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Saqlain Mushtaq, Waqar Younis in line to step in for Misbah as head coach for NZ ODIs

Misbah-ul-Haq contracted COVID on the West Indies tour and had to extend his stay in Jamaica by 10 days while the rest of the team

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Sam Abraham
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Waqar Younis

Waqar Younis (Source: Twitter)

Pakistan are set to host New Zealand for three ODIs and five T20Is at home. The three-match ODI series is set to commence on September 17. PCB announced the squad for the series as well recently but there is still uncertainty around who will be the head coach of the team.

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Misbah-ul-Haq contracted COVID on the West Indies tour and had to extend his stay in Jamaica by 10 days while the rest of the team returned. Now that he is recovered, Misbah will return to Pakistan on Sunday (September 5). However, it is still not known if he is ready to re-enter the bio-bubble on September 8 after a grueling tour.

According to the reports in Cricket Pakistan, Misbah will be meeting the PCB officials soon upon arrival to discuss whether he will be able to join the team or he will prefer resting. In case, Misbah-ul-Haq opts not to join the bubble, Saqlain Mushtaq and Waqar Younis are in line to step in temporarily as the head coach at least for the ODI series.

It is also being reported that the PCB officials isn't happy with the defensive strategies of Misbah and are looking to replace him from the helm in white-ball cricket.

As far as the New Zealand tour of Pakistan is concerned, the ODI series will conclude on September 21. The five-match T20I series will then get underway on September 25 with the tour set to end on October 3. The ODIs will be played in Rawalpindi while the T20 Internationals will take place in Lahore.

Cricket News Pakistan New Zealand tour of Pakistan