Hardik Pandya, right, celebrates with teammate Ishan Kishan the wicket of Pakistan’s Sahibzada Farhan, centre, during the T20 World Cup match between India and Pakistan in Colombo, Sri Lanka, Sunday, February 15, 2026. (AP Photo)
Pakistan men’s national team coach Mike Hesson has questioned the way his team is being judged primarily on their results against India, saying no team in world cricket has found a consistent answer to the current Indian team.Speaking to Cricinfo, Hesson said Pakistan’s progress should not be measured only by the matches against India.
The former New Zealand coach, who takes charge of Pakistan’s white-ball teams in 2025, acknowledged India’s current position at the top of world cricket and said Pakistan are not the only side struggling against them.The two teams have not played a bilateral series in more than a decade for political reasons.
They now meet only in multi-nation tournaments, where India have dominated the competition since 2022, including three wins over Pakistan in the 2025 Asia Cup and a 61-run victory in the 2026 T20 World Cup.“In the Asia Cup last year, for example, we won every match except the India match,” Hesson told Cricinfo. “The truth is that every team in the world is struggling to beat India at the moment. Every team, not just Pakistan.”
Hesson said Pakistan’s performance against other teams often goes unnoticed due to the focus on India.
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“Rightly or wrongly, Pakistan’s performance is measured against India. Right now, India is not just the best team; they are the best team ever,” he said. “In the T20 World Cup, we lost to England in the Super 8 on the back of a Harry Brook hundred and a very tough match outside of that. We won it all.” [other] “Game except for India,” he said.The Pakistani coach also pointed to the improvement in the team over the past year, saying that the results show that they are moving in the right direction.“From 2023 to 2025, we haven’t fallen out of the pack in cricket events. So you can’t go from eighth in the world to suddenly being competitive unless you start winning more regular cricket matches. For us, to go from winning 20-odd per cent to almost three-quarters of our matches in one year is significant.”