"Only the Lahore Qalandars can defeat the Lahore Qalandars"- Salman Butt

Salman Butt lashed out at the Lahore Qalandars after they allowed Islamabad United to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat in their PSL 2021 battle. The former Pakistan skipper believed the players of the Lahore-based franchise were solely responsible for the team's 28-run failure on Sunday evening.

Speaking on his YouTube channel, Salman Butt highlighted how most of the Lahore Qalandars batsmen lost their wickets because of poor shot selection. In his view, Islamabad United planned well to get Mohammad Hafeez caught out off a pull shot, but the other batters gifted their wickets to the rivals.

"Only the Lahore Qalandars can defeat the Lahore Qalandars. Understand this. Every batsman is unnecessarily taking the aerial route. They are playing the wrong shots. I don't think there was extraordinary captaincy or bowling. Yes, the planning to dismiss Mohammad Hafeez was very good, but apart from that, there was nothing special from Islamabad United," said Salman Butt.

The Lahore Qalandars got off to a dream start in their PSL 2021 match against Islamabad United. Despite losing the toss, Lahore reduced Islamabad to 20/5 in 6.1 overs. However, Asif Ali's half-century helped Islamabad reach 152/7 in 20 overs.

I think the turning point was Lahore Qalandars' careless batting and running between the wickets: Salman Butt

End of class for the Professor! @iMusaKhan gets a big one 💪🏼 #MatchDikhao l #HBLPSL6 I #IUvLQ pic.twitter.com/BPPKEoEPxX

— PakistanSuperLeague (@thePSLt20) June 13, 2021

The Lahore Qalandars started well in the second innings and breached the 50-run mark in the powerplay without losing any wickets. Miraculously, Islamabad United reduced them to 100/9 in 15 overs even though they did not have Hasan Ali and Akif Javed in the playing XI.

Salman Butt blamed Lahore's batsmen for their collapse and continued:

"I think the turning point was their careless batting and running between the wickets. There was no need to play the way they did. First of all, when you allow a team to score a 150-run total from 20/5, you lose the advantage of taking early wickets."

Salman Butt added:

"Then, you start well and have a 55-run opening stand in the powerplay. Still, you get reduced to 100/9. There was no Mohammad Asif, Wasim Akram, Glenn McGrath, Shane Warne or Brett Lee in the opposition. In fact, Islamabad United did not have their two main bowlers."

Kya comeback hai! @IsbUnited did the impossible today and stole the victory from @lahoreqalandars’s hands 🙌🏼 #MatchDikhao l #HBLPSL6 l #IUvLQ pic.twitter.com/s19raVsgLI

— PakistanSuperLeague (@thePSLt20) June 13, 2021

The Lahore Qalandars had an opportunity to secure the top spot in the PSL 2021 standings by beating Islamabad United. However, they squandered that chance on Sunday. Lahore will be in action tomorrow evening against the Quetta Gladiators. It will be interesting to see if the Qalandars can bounce back after the 28-run loss.