Kolkatta, March 17, 2016: After its emphatic win against Bangladesh yesterday (March 16), Team Pakistan’s Head Coach Waqar Younis decided to have an optional two-hour on-field training session here at the Eden Gardens Thursday afternoon.
With the entire support staff in attendance, nine players (Shoaib Malik, Sarfraz Ahmed Mohammad Sami, Sharjeel Khan, Imad Wasim, Umar Akmal, Anwar Ali, Mohammad Nawaz and Khalid Latif) opted to come over to brush up their skills ahead of Saturday’s marquee game against India.
Recovering from an injury that he suffered at the fag-end of day one’s training when a net bowler’s delivery hit him flush on his left big toe, Mohammad Sami for the first time put on his training shoes and under the direct supervision of team doctor and physio therapist Dr Sohail Saleem (who incidentally is head of Pakistan Cricket Board’s Medical and Sports Sciences Department) and trainer Grant Luden did running and sprints and also shadow bowling for a couple of overs.
He still has not been put on full training regimen, and in Dr Sohail Saleem’s assessment, “Swelling in Sami’s toe has almost subsided and his complaint with regard to pain is said to be minimal. He is recovering fast; and his fitness would be assessed again Friday.”
