“India are benchmark in white-ball cricket”: Pakistan coach Hesson ahead of Asian Games’ men’s cricket competition

Karachi [Pakistan], September 23 (ANI): Pakistan head coach Mike Hesson said the team’s young squad, largely built around players from the Pakistan Shaheens setup, will look to draw confidence from last year’s Asia Cup final performance if they get an opportunity to face India in the 2026 Asian Games men’s cricket competition, according to Cricinfo.
Pakistan and India will meet only in a potential medal match if both teams win their respective quarter-finals at the Asian Games in Aichi-Nagoya, Japan. Both teams will play their respective quarter-final clashes on September 28.
Pakistan had defeated all teams in last year’s Asia Cup but lost all three encounters against India, including the final. Hesson said India are currently the “benchmark” in white-ball cricket but added that Pakistan would aim to put them under pressure if they meet at the Asian Games, while stressing that both teams have to clear several hurdles first.
"India are the benchmark in terms of white-ball cricket at the moment and our challenge is to catch up to that. We are preparing as best as we can and if we get an opportunity to play [India], we will certainly put them under pressure as we were able to do in the final of the Asia Cup. There is a lot of cricket to be played between now and before being able to play the final for both sides, so we are not getting too far ahead of ourselves," Hesson said ahead of Pakistan's departure for Asian Games, as per Cricinfo.
Pakistan are among the four seeded teams at the Asian Games, alongside India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, and will begin their campaign in the quarter-finals against the runners-up of Group B on September 28.
Pakistan have also struggled in Test cricket recently, suffering series defeats in Bangladesh and England.
Hesson acknowledged struggles in Test cricket but highlighted Pakistan’s rise in T20 rankings, along with recent series wins, while adding that the ODI side is still developing ahead of the World Cup.
"The Test team are struggling and we are all well aware of it. But the win percentage of the T20I team in the last 15 months has been third or the fourth best. We have lost to India on multiple occasions and that is the benchmark of all the Pakistani teams, we understand that. But to suggest that the T20 side is at a low [is not correct],” he said.
"We were eighth in the world in T20 cricket when I came in and now have gone up to fifth. We have gone up 30 points, which has happened only by winning series. We have won not only in Pakistan, but in Dubai and America etc. We have won a lot of series over the last 15 months in T20 cricket so I think it is not fair to put all three formats together. So, we are struggling in Test cricket and in one-day cricket we are developing heading into the World Cup and we have certainly improved our performance in the last 12 months, but we are by no means a finished product," Hesson added.
Pakistan squad for Asian Games 2026 men's cricket competition:
Sahibzada Farhan (capt), Abdul Samad (vice-capt), Abrar Ahmed, Ahmed Daniyal, Akif Javed, Ali Raza, Arafat Minhas, Haider Ali, Hasan Nawaz, Maaz Sadaqat, Mohammad Wasim Jnr, Saad Masood, Saim Ayub, Sufyan Moqim and Usman Khan (wicket-keeper). (ANI)