Under-fire Misbah blames Covid-19 protocols, injuries for New Zealand flop

Published January 11, 2021
Pakistan head coach Misbahul Haq speaks during a press conference in Lahore on January 11. — AFP
Pakistan head coach Misbahul Haq speaks during a press conference in Lahore on January 11. — AFP

Pakistan head coach Misbahul Haq said on Monday that his fate was in the hands of the national cricket authorities after the team's New Zealand series defeat prompted speculation about his future.

Misbah, who has lost all three away Test series in his 15 months in charge, blamed an extended stay in New Zealand coronavirus isolation for the latest failure.

“I will brief the cricket committee on Tuesday and it's their right what they suggest to the board,” he told reporters in Lahore.

Pakistan lost the Twenty20 series 2-1 and went down heavily in both Tests. They have also lost Test series in Australia and England under Misbah.

The New Zealand tour started badly when six players tested positive on arrival and the team were confined to their hotel. They were later warned for breaching coronavirus restrictions by mingling.

“We had to spend 18 to 19 days in the rooms, we could not do anything, not even running. We were in rooms and just walking in the rooms,” Misbah said.

“Leave aside our situation, it (Covid) is affecting all touring teams and you must be seeing that performances are up and down and injuries are there.”

Pakistan, whose captain Babar Azam was sidelined with a broken thumb, lost the first Test by 101 runs and the second by an innings and 176 runs.

Misbah termed Babar's absence a "big loss" for the team that contributed to the setback.

"We are trying to see how to control performances, there is a lot of fluctuation so end results are getting affected. We did mistakes on the field but then again we also have to see that one person could not go due to Covid [and] injuries affected us a lot.

"Babar Azam was a big problem, that was a big loss for us. Babar has the same role for us as Kane Williamson for his team, so this was a big shock. Despite this, I will say that we did not leave any stone unturned but the opposition was better than us in all three departments," he said.

The head coach said he had no doubt about the overall effort of his team and that the Kiwis won because they played better cricket. "We observed a lot of things that we need to improve," he added.

He said it was a "fact" that Covid-19 and the bio-secure 'bubbles' were "somehow affecting the performances" of the players.

"You may say it is an excuse but the whole world is witnessing this."

Opinion

Editorial

IMF’s unease
Updated 24 May, 2024

IMF’s unease

It is clear that the next phase of economic stabilisation will be very tough for most of the population.
Belated recognition
24 May, 2024

Belated recognition

WITH Wednesday’s announcement by three European states that they intend to recognise Palestine as a state later...
App for GBV survivors
24 May, 2024

App for GBV survivors

GENDER-based violence is caught between two worlds: one sees it as a crime, the other as ‘convention’. The ...
Energy inflation
Updated 23 May, 2024

Energy inflation

The widening gap between the haves and have-nots is already tearing apart Pakistan’s social fabric.
Culture of violence
23 May, 2024

Culture of violence

WHILE political differences are part of the democratic process, there can be no justification for such disagreements...
Flooding threats
23 May, 2024

Flooding threats

WITH temperatures in GB and KP forecasted to be four to six degrees higher than normal this week, the threat of...