Misbah-ul-Haq and Waqar Younis have stepped down from their positions as head coach and bowling coach of the national men's team respectively. Misbah cited spending "considerable time away from my family in a bio-secure environment" as the reason for his decision. Younis said that since he and Misbah had walked into the roles together, it made sense to also "step down together". With New Zealand scheduled to arrive in Pakistan for a white-ball series later this month, the PCB has appointed Saqlain Mushtaq and Abdul Razzaq as interim coaches of the team. They had been appointed to their positions in September 2019, and still had a year left in their contracts. "The quarantine in Jamaica post the West Indies series provided me with an opportunity to reflect on the past 24 months as well as the schedule for international cricket ahead," Misbah said in a statement issued by the PCB. "Considering that I would have had to continue to spend considerable time away from my family and that too in a bio-secure environment, I have decided to step down from the role. "I understand that the timing may not be ideal but I don't think I am in the right frame of mind for the upcoming challenges and it makes sense for someone fresh to step in and take the side forward.
"The past 24 months have been thoroughly enjoyable and I want to thank my team and the management for their support. I wish the Pakistan cricket team best of luck in the upcoming events and will continue to support them every time they will take the field to represent Pakistan. "Younis called his decision "straightforward" once he knew what Misbah was thinking." After Misbah shared with me his decision and future plans, it was a straightforward one for me to resign as we had walked into the roles together, had worked collectively as a pair and now also step down together," he said. "Working with the Pakistan bowlers, including the youngsters, has been most satisfying as they have now started to show progress. Bio-secure environments in the past 16 months have had their impact, something we had never experienced during our playing days. Wasim Khan, the PCB CEO, thanked the duo for their services and said, "The PCB understands and respects Misbah's decision. Cricket in this unprecedented bio-secure world has not been easy for anyone and Misbah has clearly taken into account the intense six months of non-stop cricket ahead," Wasim said. "In the past 24 months, Misbah has given his very best to the team and we wish him well in his future endeavors. It has been an honorable decision by Waqar and we thank him sincerely for his immense work and commitment over the past two years and wish him the very best in the future. "Both Misbah and Waqar have given so much to Pakistan cricket over a long period of time and for that they deserve a huge amount of respect. The development comes hours after Pakistan announced.
