Pakistan head coach Misbah-Ul-Haq said the tourists were “a bit unlucky” to have contracted COVID-19 during their quarantine period in Christchurch, New Zealand.
He further said the precautionary COVID-19 guidelines were strict in New Zealand as the head coach has expressed disappointment at not being able to practice during their 14-day stay in isolation.
Seven members of the Pakistan 54-member touring squad tested positive for COVID-19 days after their arrival in New Zealand on November 24. However, now the rest of the Pakistan squad except those 7 players have been released and started training on December 9 in Queenstown.
Misbah said at a virtual press conference on Friday (December 11): “Due to COVID, rules are very strict in New Zealand and we respect that. And now we have moved out of quarantine after spending 14 days in isolation. We were not able to practice in the last 14 days.”
He further added, “I think we were a bit unlucky in this regard that we couldn't practice after three days and lost a lot of time due to coronavirus cases but now we are back on the field.”
Meanwhile, the Pakistan team was also given a “final warning” by the New Zealand government after some of the touring players breached the quarantine protocols, but Misbah has insisted that breaches were “unintentional” as it happened during moving luggage within the camp.
He further explained, “The breaches were unintentional in the first day and it happened moving luggage here and there. It was a weird situation and New Zealand clarified afterward that Pakistan had followed protocols but never the less the main point is we couldn't practice due to the positive results those 14 days.”
The head coach signed off by saying, “Now, we are out of quarantine and trying to make up for the time lost. It's tough to do a work of three weeks in seven days but we are trying to give our best. Want to be in the best shape before December 18 in Auckland.”
Noteworthy, Pakistan and New Zealand are scheduled to play the three-match T20I series starting December 18 while the two ICC World Test Championship matches will be played in Mount Maunganui and Christchurch on December 26-30 and January 3-7, respectively.
Here’s the Pakistan T20I squad:
Babar Azam (captain), Shadab Khan (vice-captain), Abdullah Shafique, Faheem Ashraf, Haider Ali, Haris Rauf, Hussain Talat, Iftikhar Ahmed, Imad Wasim, Khushdil Shah, Mohammad Hafeez, Mohammad Hasnain, Mohammad Musa Khan, Mohammad Rizwan, Sarfaraz Ahmed, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Usman Qadir, and Wahab Riaz.
(With ANI Inputs)
