Top Qalandars official says 'still have eight games left' to regain footing

DUBAI: Sameen Rana, the manager and chief operating officer of the Lahore Qalandars team, on Saturday expressed hope that his team will make a comeback in the third season of the Pakistan Super League (PSL) after suffering two losses early in the cricket series.

Speaking to the media after the defeat, Rana said it was just two games, that the tournament still has a long way to go, and that the Qalandars would surely make a comeback.

“Back-to-back defeats are obviously disappointing because no one expects these results,” he said.

“We played two bad games, [but] we still have eight games left. The most important thing for us is that team picks up the momentum.”

The Qalandars' top official backed the team, which includes skipper Brendon McCullum, who has yet to excel with his bat.

“This is the same team that we all picked mutually. We fully back these players, and Inshallah (God be willing), this team will deliver results,” he noted.

“Brendon did play well today [against Quetta] but he was unlucky to get [bowled] out at that moment of the game,” he highlighted.

The Qalandars' COO agreed that his team missed a consolidator in middle after securing a decent start, earlier in the innings.

“Our start today was good but the challenge we faced was that we missed a consolidator in middle; we also shuffled the batting order for that,” he said.

“Our aim was to post a decent score after losing quick wickets,” added the manager of Lahore Qalandars.

Nevertheless, he gave credit to the Quetta Gladiators for making a comeback, underscoring remarkable bowling by Mohammad Nawaz.

The due “credit [goes] to Quetta. Nawaz did brilliant bowling and got the wickets at the wrong time for us,” he concluded.