Ind vs Pak T20 World Cup 2026 – Ishan Kishan flurry, batting power play costs Pakistan, says Mike Hesson

It’s never easy to make a quick and honest assessment in the immediate aftermath of such an embarrassing defeat, but Hesson was honest.

“When the guys put you under pressure, are you going to stick to your basics or are you going to go away from them,” Hesson asked in response to a question at the postgame press briefing. “And it’s going to be a real challenge as the tournament progresses: we’ll be put under pressure again and that’s how we react when you’re under the pump.

“All these guys are international players, they’re all good players, but when the pressure comes, are they going to trust the decision-making or are they probably going to go outside (of their plans)? And today pressure made us go out there and that’s something that for us to progress further in this tournament, that’s something that we’re going to have to get better at.”

Hesson agreed that the batsmen succumbed to overthinking and would probably want to bat like ‘Superman’ to reach the target set by India, which he said was 25 runs above par. And that happened, Hesson said, because of the magnitude of an India-Pakistan game.

“We’re really disappointed that we didn’t play as well as we could, but we’re also part of the tournament and we know in tournament play that it’s not always going to go your way.”

Mike Hesson

“I think they can (think it over),” he said. “When you see a score and you know it’s probably a bit over the top, you almost feel like you’re going to play like Superman and take on the game earlier than the conditions allow you to.

“We lost wickets early on to shots which I’m sure on that surface were pretty tough, tough options. On a faster surface, (like the) SSC, it might be a little bit different. So it’s about adapting and we’ve been very good about adapting to different conditions over the last few months. Today we probably took a little step back.”

While Agha said on Saturday that the toss could not decide the result, which he stressed was dependent on how plans were executed over the 40 overs, the question of whether Pakistan had done the right thing by fielding India grew louder by the minute. But for Hesson, it was not a wrong decision.

“Both teams would bowl first, because the pitch was soft and the ball spun twice as much in the first innings as in the second,” he said. “The ball slipped further (in the first innings). So there is nothing wrong with the decision to bowl first.”

Comparisons were also made to the Australia vs Zimbabwe match, which the latter won after electing to bat, but Hesson disagreed. “There was talk before about the Australia game, (but) it was a day game. This is a night game, nothing to do with the draw, it was just execution.”

Pakistan, Hesson pointed out, had been “outplayed” by India and the dressing room had been stolen.

“It’s a pretty disappointed dressing room in there at the moment because they know how much it means to Pakistan,” Hesson said. “And we’re really disappointed that we didn’t play as well as we could, but we’re also part of the tournament and we know in tournament play that it’s not always going to go your way. So our job is to pick ourselves up and make sure we’re very good in two or three days.”

Pakistan next play Namibia on February 18 at the SSC, which will be their last match in the group stage. Pakistan need to win that match to avoid a clash with the USA, who are now second behind India in the standings but have played all four of their matches.