Karachi: The freshly knitted outfit of the Lahore Qalandars, under an experienced Mohammad Hafeez, started off well however could not cross the finishing line in the opening game, of the Pakistan Super League (PSL), against Islamabad United in Dubai.
Batting first, Fakhar Zaman and Sohail Akthar provided Qalandars the blistering start however the later order failed to keep up the momentum. Captain Mohammad Hafeez held himself back in the batting order but the Pakistan stalwart maintains it was part of the well thoughtout plan which didn’t work.
“In view of the game’s situation, AB (de Villiers) was sent in, because we wanted him to face more deliveries in the last 10 overs”, Mohammad Hafeez told this correspondent from Dubai.
LQ’s first wicket, Sohail Akhtar, fell on 97 while the next man, Fakhar Zaman perished at the collective score of 129 in the 14th over.
“After Fakhar, I held myself back to maintain the left & right hand combination hence Anton Devcich was promoted in the batting order. There was nothing wrong with the strategy”, the LQ captain maintained
Mohammad Hafeez hoped to bounce back in the next game.
”Lots of positive for us in this game and we will come back very strongly”, Mohammad Hafeez concluded.