We need to improve our fitness: Fatima Sana

KARACHI: Pakistan’s women cricket team young pacer Fatima Sana on Tuesday said that they are lagging behind the rest of the teams in fitness.

“We will need to work on our fitness if we are to beat other teams,” Fatima told reporters here on the sidelines of the national team’s camp for the home series against Sri Lanka starting next week. “They focus on diet and our diet is not of that quality. We can learn things from them,” she added.

The 20-year-old Karachi-born bowling all-rounder said that it was a great learning experience to feature in the Fairbreak Invitational in Dubai recently in which leading cricketers of the world showcased their skills.

“It was a learning experience and we will try to continue featuring in such events,” Fatima said.

She said that she is trying to become more economical as a bowler. “I will continue training to improve myself in this area,” she said.

Fatima said that it would not be an issue for her to adjust after returning from the foreign league. “It’s not difficult to adjust. We will continue training as we have four to five days still at our disposal before the series opener against Sri Lanka,” she said.

She said that head coach David Hemp has worked with her to improve her batting. “David wants that I should deliver as an all-rounder for the team and this thing is very good for me,” Fatima said.

She said that Pakistan would compete in the Commonwealth Games, the World Cup and series against Australia and Ireland in the near future. “We will try to give tough time to the players there and take Pakistan into a winning moment,” she said.

She termed the PCB’s decision to lift Covid-19-related restrictions a good one for the players. “It’s a good initiative from the PCB. We are finally out of the bio-secure bubble which restricted our life,” Fatima said.