Pakistan men’s cricket team head coach Mike Hesson has questioned the tendency to judge his side solely on their performances against India, arguing that the current Indian team is the strongest in world cricket and remains a challenge for every nation.
Speaking to ESPNcricinfo, Hesson said Pakistan’s progress should be assessed over an entire season rather than based on a handful of high-profile matches against India. He pointed out that Pakistan performed well in major tournaments despite falling short against their arch-rivals.
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Referring to the 2025 Asia Cup, Hesson noted that Pakistan won every match except those against India. He also highlighted their campaign in the 2026 T20 World Cup, where the team defeated all opponents apart from India and later suffered a narrow Super 8 defeat to England after a match-winning century from Harry Brook.
Hesson stressed that India are currently “the best team by a mile” and that no international side has consistently found a way to beat them. He said it is unfair to single out Pakistan when virtually every team in world cricket is facing the same challenge.
The former New Zealand coach also underlined the significant improvement Pakistan have made over the past year. Between 2023 and 2025, the team failed to progress beyond the group stage in ICC tournaments. However, under the current setup, Pakistan have dramatically improved their win percentage, rising from around 20 percent to nearly 75 percent.
According to Hesson, rebuilding a team is a gradual process that requires patience and consistency. He believes Pakistan are moving in the right direction and deserve to be evaluated on their overall performances against all opponents rather than being defined only by results against India. He added that while India-Pakistan matches naturally attract enormous attention, they should not be the sole benchmark for measuring Pakistan’s progress.
