Qalandars foreign players highly motivated, says Atif Rana

Monitoring Desk

LAHORE: Lahore Qalandars Chief Executive Officer Atif Rana Friday said all the foreign players of the team were highly motivated and they did not need to persuade them to stay in the league.

He thanked all the foreign players for showing their resilience and determination despite the fact many foreign players of other teams have confirmed their exit over the coronavirus threat.

Talking to the private channel, he said the spread of coronavirus all over the world was unfortunate and they would have to follow the precautionary measures and all other decisions taken in the wake of the global pandemic.

About the performance of his team, Atif Rana said it was pleasing that the team has given better performances this season but said they still have one last match to play, which is a must-win for them to reach in the semi-finals.

Qalandars are currently fourth on the points table with 8 points after playing nine matches and would take table leaders Multan Sultans in their last match on March 15 at Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore.

Atif Rana said he was satisfied with his team’s performances so far. About last night’s thrashing at the hand of Karachi Kings, it was not their day and every team may suffer a bad day but there was no need to panic as the team was capable to bounce back in style.

On a question of disturbing the winning combination after winning every match with a lot of changes, Qalandars CEO said they have to make the enforced changes only due to the injuries and there was nothing tactical about that.

He said they would decide about changes in the team for the last match against Multan Sultans after accessing the pitch and weather conditions.

Having a run rate in minus, Qalandars would not cherish an abandoned tie due to rain and could miss out the semi-final chances in that case.

However, Atif Rana said they were not much thinking about the weather and want to play the match with their full potential to move ahead in the tournament as they can’t control the weather.