Pakistan bowling coach Waqar Younis set to leave for Australia for wife’s surgery

Waqar Younis, the Pakistan bowling coach, is all set to leave for Australia for his wife Faryal Waqar’s surgery. The pace bowling veteran will leave from Zimbabwe on Monday, April 19 and the operation will be conducted after the end of Ramadan.

Younis, also a former Pakistan fast bowler, needs to depart early as in Australia, one has to serve a mandatory quarantine period of 14 days on arrival. Pakistan’s tour of Zimbabwe gets underway on Wednesday, April 21 with the T20I series.

As per reports in Cricket Pakistan, he won’t be available for the tour. The 49-year-old is expected to resume when the national team returns to Pakistan. On the tour of Zimbabwe, Pakistan will be playing three T20Is and two Tests at the Harare Sports Club.

Pakistan are recently coming off a victory in the ODI and T20I series against South Africa. Both the series were decided in the respective last games. Their skipper Babar Azam was top of his game, both as a batsman and as a captain.

Fakhar Zaman also impressed after he churned out a 190 plus score in the second ODI at the Wanderers where his knock went in vain. The likes of Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Rizwan among others also gained accolades.

Pakistan’s Shaheen Afridi to be given rest on Zimbabwe tour

In the meantime, it has been learned that fast bowler Shaheen Shah Afridi is likely to be rested for a few games in the Zimbabwe tour. In a previous press conference, it was Waqar Younis, who put forth the development on the bowler.

As per a report earlier, the Pakistan team management had asked him to take a rest. But the pacer turned down their request. Shaheen picked up nine wickets from seven games in the South Africa tour, but he leaked runs at an alarming rate.

In fact, in the ODI series, he was the second-most expensive bowler after Hasan Ali. He also came under the scanner for his lacklustre performances. Shaheen has been a key member of the national team since 2018.

In 2020, Pakistan have won all their bilateral series and it remains to be seen if they can continue their winning streak against Zimbabwe.