Pakistan head coach Misbah-ul-Haq said that the breaches in the safety protocols in New Zealand were unintentional.
The 46-year-old made the remarks while talking to the media on Friday.
“The people of New Zealand themselves are being diagnosed for the disease as they are returning to the country,” said Misbah. “You can never tell from where a case is being reported. I think we were a bit unlucky. We couldn’t start our preparations [for the upcoming fixtures] and we lost time. Different things happened back in Pakistan when the reports of positive tests made rounds, I think those breaches were unintentional and it happened when players were collecting their luggage or things like that.”
Islamabad United coach further went on to say that the management is now focusing on making up for the lost time ahead of the series.
“We are trying to make up for the lost time,” he said. “But doing two to three weeks of work in just seven days is a tough job. However, the players are responding well and we are doing the best we can to get in the best of nick.”
Misbah, adding that his side is on a mission, said that he is looking forward to the fixtures against New Zealand.
“The Black Caps are a tough nut to crack and they are heading against us on the back of their games against West Indies and are in good shape as well,” he added. “We are also confident given our performances in the last couple of series especially in the 20-overs format whereas our experience recent of playing home and away fixtures especially in England will matter a lot.”
