Fakhar Zaman dejected over Qalandars' defeat despite good start

DUBAI: Lahore Qalandars vice-captain Fakhar Zaman on Friday night expressed his disappointment after his team lost its opening game to the Multan Sultans, despite a good start.

The star batsman told media after the match — the third in the Pakistan Super League's (PSL) third season — that the target was not that challenging to achieve but a good spell by the Sultans' Kieron Pollard and Imran Tahir took the game away from the Qalandars.

“It was disappointing to lose the match after starting off very well. But there were positives for us too. Umar was good in form, Narine also scored from the top.

"We will try to take positives from this game and make a comeback in next match,” Zaman told the journalists.

“Anything can happen in cricket; collapses are part of the game. The score wasn’t difficult on this wicket. Imran is a world-class bowler and he made us helpless,” the young batsman added.

Zaman, who scored 49 in the game, said he tried to do his job for the team but did not regret missing his own fifty in the match.

“You don’t think about your fifties in these matches, I [wished for a] fifty … I thought the ball was good enough to be hit for a boundary but, unfortunately, I was caught,” he said.

He added that his job as the opener was to provide a good start to the team; finishing the match, however, is usually the job of middle-order batsmen.

“I tried to stay on the wicket. But the openers’ job is to provide a start, [while] finishing the match is the job of the middle order.

"Most of the time, my role is to provide a good start and, while making such attempts, I can always risk my wicket.

"I am a top-order batsman and I don’t see myself in the role of a 'match-finisher', but I will definitely try to play [for a much longer time],” he expressed.

Zaman, however, agreed that his team must finish the matches properly.

“It is a must for us to finish the match. All great players are known for finishing the matches. I tried today but couldn’t.

"I was playing according to the role tasked to me by my captain and the coach," he said, adding that Sultans fought back well.

The famed batsman, known for his aggressive batting, also spoke highly of his teammate Sohail Akhtar, who made his PSL debut this Friday.

“Sohail Akhtar is an aggressive player. He has great potential and showed his talent today and I believe that he’s better than what he did today. I am sure you’ll soon see best of his abilities,” he concluded.