Pakistan coach Mike Hesson eyes India challenge at Asian Games

Pakistan head coach Mike Hesson has acknowledged India as the white-ball cricket benchmark, expressing his team's readiness to challenge their rivals at the Asian Games while defending Pakistan's recent T20 performance and improved ICC ranking.

Pakistan head coach Mike Hesson on Wednesday described India as the benchmark for all teams in white-ball formats but will look to put them under pressure if both the teams meet in the Asian Games men's cricket competition in Japan.

Pakistan have lost the last six matches to India, including three games in the Asia Cup alone.

Hesson On India's Dominance

"India are the benchmark in terms of white-ball cricket at the moment. I think the challenge for Pakistan is to catch up with them in white-ball cricket," Hesson said before Pakistan team's departure to Japan for the continental showpiece.

"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," he added.

In the ongoing Asian Games, Pakistan and India can only play against each other if they qualify for the final or in the bronze medal match as they are in separate groups. The teams play directly from the quarterfinal onwards.

Squad Composition and Captaincy

In contrast to India, Pakistan have picked only a handful of experienced players from the national side as their side is filled mostly with players who have either played a few international games or have been on the reserve bench.

India, however, have gone in with a full strength outfit indicating their ambition to add another Asian Games gold medal.

Hesson also played down suggestions that Sahibzada Farhan's appointment as Pakistan captain for the Asian Games hinted at a longer-term leadership role.

Hesson had little doubt that the Asian Games presented Farhan with a good opportunity to showcase his leadership qualities, but the tenure extension at the helm solely depends on the selection committee and the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB).

Defending Pakistan's T20 Performance

Hesson also appeared to have lost his cool a bit when a reporter asked him about Pakistan's decline across formats.

Hesson said it was unfair to judge the team the same across all formats.

The Kiwi said while Pakistan have definitely struggled in Test cricket but from a T20 perspective, the performance has improved over the last 15 months.

Pakistan, he pointed out, have risen from eighth to fifth in the ICC T20I rankings since he took charge and have gained 30 ranking points.

"We've only done that by winning a series, not just in Pakistan but series in Dubai, America, whatever. So we've won a lot of series over the last 15 months in T20 cricket," he said.

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