Colombo [Sri Lanka]February 16 (ANI): Pakistan head coach Mike Hesson admitted that his team failed to adapt to match conditions in a tight encounter against India after the Men in Green suffered a one-sided 61-run defeat in the Group A match of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup.
During the post-match press conference, reflecting on the match, Hesson said India capitalized better on a surface that offered significant help to the spinners early on.
“Obviously the ball was spinning quite a lot initially and I think the way Ishan Kishan played took the game away from us,” he noted.
Hesson admitted that India managed to beat what Pakistan considered a competitive overall score on the face of it. “To be fair to India, they probably scored about 25 over par on this surface.”
However, the Pakistan coach described his team’s performance as a bigger problem. According to Hesson, the team failed to adjust their approach after assessing the field conditions, which ultimately cost them the victory.
“In terms of adapting to the conditions, we didn’t give ourselves a chance,” he said.
The Pakistan head coach rejected suggestions that choosing to bat first was a defensive move, insisting the decision was based purely on pitch assessment rather than caution.
“Yeah, I mean, I answered that question. Both sides were going to bowl first because the pitch was soft and the ball was spinning twice as much in the first innings as it did in the second. There used to be talk about the game in Australia being a day game; This is a night game. So, like I said, it had nothing to do with the shot, it was just execution.” – Hesson said.
Hesson defended his team’s bowling strategy in their tight match against India while answering questions about the late appointment of Usman Tariq. “Usman Tariq is a really good player when players are chasing him and he has a pretty specific role for us.”
“Yes, he could have done it. But I thought Abrar Ahmed did a really good job for us, as did Shadab Khan after the powerplay. They both bowled overs that didn’t go their way in terms of length. But of course I would back these guys any day to do the job like they have done in the last five wins. So it didn’t work today, but as I said, Usman Tariq has a very clear role and I think he was exceptional this evening.” Hesson added.
Coming into the match, Pakistan elected to field first after winning the toss and after Abhishek was out, Ishan’s ruthless 77 and Tilak’s calm 25 kept India steady but the Men in Blue slumped to 126/4, losing their batters for a set and all-rounder Hardik Pandya (0).
However, captain Suryakumar, Shivam and Rinku finished the innings well, distributing their shots perfectly in difficult conditions. India scored 175/7 with Saim Ayub (3/25) emerging as Pakistan’s best bowler.
Chasing the ball, Pakistan were reduced to 34/4 thanks to early strikes from Hardik, Jasprit Bumrah and Axar Patel. Usman Khan (44 off 34 balls, with six fours and a six) was the only one to appear to bat as Team India bundled Pakistan out for just 114 runs in 18 overs, advancing to the Super 8 stage with their third straight win.
Axar (2/29 in four overs) was the best bowler for India, Hardik (2/16 in three overs), Bumrah (2/17 in two overs) and Varun Chakaravarthy (2/17 in three overs) were also among the wickets.
India remains in first place with three wins from three matches in Group A, Pakistan has dropped to third with two wins and a loss, and the US is currently in second place with two wins and two losses.
Thanks to a convincing win over their arch-rivals in the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup match, India now leads 8-1. (ANI)
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