Waqar once again leaves bowlers at mercy of fate

ISLAMABAD: The national team’s bowling coach Waqar Younis has left the team at the mercy of fate once again during African Safari and this time heading to Australia to meet his family.

Pakistan tour management in Harare (Zimbabwe) has confirmed that Waqar has left for Australia ahead of the start of the tour, leaving the bowlers at the mercy of head coach Misbahul Haq.

“Waqar’s wife is undergoing a surgery in a few days and that is the reason he has left for Australia to join his family. Waqar will have to go through 14-day quarantine after reaching Australia and that’s why he has to catch up the first available flight from Harare,” an official handout by team management says.

Waqar will no more be available for the team during the T20 and Test series in Zimbabwe and will only be rejoining the team at end of the tour in Pakistan.

It was in December during Pakistan’s last trip to New Zealand that Waqar was granted leave to join his family in Pakistan ahead of the important second Test against the hosts.

The bowling coach only rejoined the team ahead of the home series against South Africa. His September 2020 attempt to rejoin his family in Australia was never successful as he had to get back to Pakistan on the eighth day of his 14-day mandatory quarantine period in Australia due to his father’s death in Lahore.