Pre-season red ball camp starts today

KARACHI: The red-ball pre-season fielding and fitness camp will be started from Tuesday (today) at the Hanif Mohammad High-Performance Centre in Karachi.

The camp includes 24 players who will undergo a two-week camp till 7 July. The 25th player in the camp will be confirmed in due course. A PCB official at Hanif Mohammad High Performance Center said that players started reporting at the centre on Monday.

After the conclusion of the red-ball camp, 15 players will feature in Pakistan Shaheens’ pre-departure camp which will run from 8 to 13 July before Shaheens’ departure for Darwin, Australia, on 14 July to play two four-dayer against Bangladesh ‘A’, two one-day matches and also to feature in nine-team Top End T20 Series.

Among the 24 players in the camp, eight cricketers have represented Pakistan in Test cricket: Abdullah Shafique (17 Tests), Imam-ul-Haq (24 Tests), Khurram Shahzad (one Test), Mohammad Wasim Jnr (two Tests), Sarfaraz Ahmed (54 Tests), Saud Shakeel (10 Tests), Umar Amin (four Tests) and Zahid Mahmood (two Tests).

Considering Pakistan are scheduled to play nine Test matches of the ICC World Test Championship 2023-25 in the 2024-25 season, the camp will be a huge boost for the players to get themselves ready for the red-ball season.

Pakistan are scheduled to play two Test matches against Bangladesh and three Test matches against England – both at home -- in August and October, respectively. Pakistan will travel to South Africa to play two Test matches in December/January and later will play two Tests at home against West Indies in January 2025.