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Sport

Hesson calls India the benchmark as Pakistan prepare for possible Asian Games clash

Pakistan coach Mike Hesson has called India "the benchmark" in white-ball cricket, saying his side will be ready if the two meet at the 2026 Asian Games.

By Tom Ellery · · 1 min read

Mike Hesson after his investiture as an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit, Government House, Wellington, 10 September 2015. Credit: New Zealand Government, Office of the Governor-General (CC BY 4.0), via Wikimedia Commons.
Photo: New Zealand Government, Office of the Governor-General, via Wikimedia Commons · source

Pakistan head coach Mike Hesson has called India “the benchmark” in white-ball cricket and says his side are preparing to challenge them if the two sides meet at the 2026 Asian Games.

“India are the benchmark in terms of white-ball cricket at the moment, and our challenge is to catch up to them,” Hesson said. “We are certainly preparing the best we can so that, if we get an opportunity to play [India], we certainly put them under pressure, like we were able to in the final of the Asia Cup.”

Hesson cautioned against looking too far ahead, noting there was still a lot of cricket for both sides to play before they could potentially meet in a final.

The coach also defended his side’s progress, urging critics to “use facts rather than emotion” when assessing the team. He pointed to Pakistan climbing from eighth to fifth in the T20 rankings, gaining 30 ranking points over the past 15 months.

Pakistan head into the Games with a second-string squad led by Sahibzada Farhan and enter the competition directly at the quarter-final stage on 28 September. India are the defending champions and top seeds, and the draw means the rivals could only meet in the medal matches. Pakistan finished fourth at the 2022 Games in Hangzhou.

Sources

More on this topic: all Sport stories

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