Waqar blames hotel stint for series defeat
Pakistan’s bowling coach Waqar Younis says his side’s managed isolation stint was a key reason behind their test series loss to New Zealand.
Pakistan played two tests in New Zealand but the former fast-bowling great was allowed to return home after his side lost the first game by 101 runs, in order to spend some time with his loved ones ahead of this month’s home series against South Africa.
Pakistan lost the recent test series to New Zealand 2-0 and the Twenty20 encounters 2-1, and Waqar said it was especially tough for the players to go through 14 days of managed isolation which limited them to their hotel rooms.
‘‘Medically it’s proven that if you are closed in a room for one day, you have wastage of two days’ muscle,’’ Waqar said.
‘‘They are top athletes, they needed to be trained every day so these issues were also there, because of which we couldn’t win.’’
The Pakistan players were given a final warning after breaking managed isolation rules in Christchurch. Pakistan’s fast bowlers struggled in the tests against New Zealand, losing both matches by heavy margins, with young pacemen Naseem Shah and Shaheen Afridi unable to generate the same results as the likes of New Zealand seamers Kyle Jamieson and Tim Southee.
But Waqar said taking 20 wickets in a test was more important to him than relying on the pace of a fast bowler. ‘‘Pace is important, and I understand that if you have it, it’s good, but for me how to get 20 wickets is more important,’’ he explained.
‘‘If he is bowling at 140kmh and not getting wickets, it’s useless, but if he is bowling at 120kmh and taking wickets, it’s good to me. We also had issues of no-balls and dropped catches.
‘‘We didn’t perform the way we would have wanted.’’
After going seven months without seeing his family while living in a bio-secure bubble and travelling the world with the national team, Waqar is finally getting to spend some time at home. The 49-year-old toured England before his team went on to host Zimbabwe and then visited New Zealand. Waqar and head coach Misbahul-Haq were summoned by the Pakistan Cricket Board this week to explain the team’s results, but both men will be given another chance in the home series against South Africa before their performance is reevaluated.
Pakistan lost the test series in England 1-0 before tying the Twenty20 encounters 1-1. They then beat Zimbabwe in both the ODI and T20 series.
‘‘It’s a performance-based [job] whether you do coaching or play international cricket,’’ Waqar said.‘‘If you give good results, you will keep getting opportunities.’’
But Waqar said he had other priorities besides cricket. ‘‘I didn’t see my family for the last seven months and got permission from the cricket board to spend time with my family,’’ Waqar told reporters in Lahore.
‘‘Cricket is not the end of the world. ‘‘There are also other things in life which are important.’’
‘‘They are top athletes, they needed to be trained every day so these issues were also there, because of which we couldn’t win.’’ Waqar Younis