Qalandars' new low surprises coach Javed

Wahab Riaz from Peshawar Zalmi reacts after dismissing Lahore Qalandars' Yasir Shah during their PSL match at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium.

The Lahore Qalandars' plunging to new depths has left even their coach Aaqib Javed surprised with the former fast bowler saying he hasn't seen anything like this in his 30-year career.
Qalandars' crushing 10-wicket defeat to Peshawar Zalmi at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium saw them added another unwanted statistic. Brendon McCullum's side lost their fifth match on the trot and seven stretching back to the previous edition of the HBL Pakistan Super League (PSL).
And Javed said that the Lahore Qalandars have followed the same trend of a good start followed by a massive collapse.
"If I say something new, nothing new is going to happen. We have played five matches and it is one single pattern - a good start and then a collapse," Javed said after the game.
"I was just sitting and thinking and I've never seen a performance like this by any team in my entire life. When you have seven batsmen, you expect 35 innings in five matches but there's not a single half-century. There have been big collapses and there have some teams who have been out of form but at least you expect a few 50s. But there's not a single one. We have been saying it is a good start if it is a 40 but it becomes a good start when you translate it into a 70. It has been a pathetic performance so far," he added.
Javed said that low totals meant that the bowlers were unable to defend them. "When you are bowled out for 100, that total looks quite ordinary and the bowlers are unable to defend such a low total," he said.
"You believe in your senior players like McCullum, Fakhar Zaman and Denesh Ramdin, who is quite experienced in such situations and can rotate the strike. Fakhar has to change his game after the powerplay. Not just Fakhar but other batsmen too have to adapt according to the situation," added Javed.
But Javed believed that they can still turn it around in the remaining fixtures.
james@khaleejtimes.com