Pakistan will play a bilateral series against the West Indies in August this year.
Pakistan cricket is under a dark cloud cover. Transitions are never easy, and this team is entering some serious turbulent weather. The management decided to drop the likes of Babar Azam, Mohammad Rizwan and Shaheen Shah Afridi for their recent tour to Bangladesh. The new team, led by Salman Agha, suffered a humiliating series defeat away from home. The Tigers dented the Men in Green and won the T20I series 2-1. The visitors were only able to make an impact in the third T20I, which they managed to win by 74 runs. Head coach Mike Hesson had voiced his opinion on where Pakistan cricket needs to do on the road ahead.
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The management had made it very clear that they would like the three established players to focus on Test and ODI cricket. As a result, a young side was named on the flight to Bangladesh. However, after their defeat in the series, head coach Mike Hesson has opened up about what the team will need to achieve on the roadmap to success in the two marquee ICC events coming up. The Men’s Asia Cup as well as the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup is scheduled to take place over the period of the next eight months. It is due to this reason, that Hesson believes there is a need for finding depth and a culture in Pakistan cricket. He also emphasized on the fielding aspect of the team.
“Currently sitting 8th in the world we need to create depth and competition for places as well as play a style of cricket that can give us more consistency over time, especially at key event like Asia Cup and World Cups”, wrote Hesson.
It is high time we stop referring to Bangladesh as underdogs. Even if we were until this point, we cannot, anymore. The Liton Das led side gave the Men in Green some fitting hospitality. Pakistan beat Bangladesh in the three T20Is played at home in the month of May 2025. But this time around, the Tigers were ready for revenge. They out their hands on the trophy by winning the three-match series 2-1. The three-match affair had a bit of everything – great spells, fiery send-offs and the Mike Hesson pitch inspection.
Pakistan managed a mere 110 in the first innings of the first T20I at Mirpur. The hosts chased it down quite easily, with seven wickets in hand. Pakistan’s head coach lashed out at the pitch, calling it substandard. He also voiced that the kind of pitch provided did not help any of the two teams prepare for important events coming up. The second T20I was a closely-knit affair. The hosts got to a competitive 133, but the visitors still fell short by eight runs. The series was done and dusted. However, Pakistan’s inspiration came in the third game of the series.
Hesson had words of praise for the teams performance in the third T20I, and also for the series victory back home in May 2025. He mentioned that the young team showed some good resilience by bouncing back under pressure in key moments of the series. Pakistan registered 201 in the first as well as the second T20Is against Bangladesh at home in the month of May. These pitches in Mirpur, were extremely contrasting.
“Six games on two contrasting pitches gave us key insights. A young batting group shone with 200+ scores early. Mirpur which is the lowest scoring venue in T20I’s certainly tested our adaptability and after struggling early we fought back and showed an ability to learn with experience. Fielding was a huge step up in last two matches and were starting to look like an International fielding side”, commented Hesson on the last six games against Bangladesh.
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The 2022 ICC Men’s T20 World Cup finalists have their task cut out. They need to build a good pool of players to compete at the highest level. Scoring on pitches which assist batting does not seem to be a problem for this young side. But the team seems to lose track the moment the pitch gets competitive, like it happened in the recent series. But, concerns loom large for the Shaheens. The bowling unit could not take an advantage of the pitches presented to them.
Though three matches is a very short sample to judge the capability of a player, it can give us a fair idea about his game. Pakistan had just one bowler in the top five bowlers with the most wickets in the series, which is a daunting sign. To add to the woes, Babar Azam, Mohammad Rizwan and Mohammad Haris are the only three batters in the top 30 batters’ rankings of the ICC. And the former two aren’t a part of the side anymore.
The team is scheduled to play a white-ball bilateral series against the West Indies. The series will start with three T20Is and will be followed by three ODI fixtures. Post that, the Shaheens will have to prepare for the Men’s Asia Cup which is scheduled to begin in September.
“New players stepped up, showing promise and in some instances excelling. Specialist Coaches have played a key role in developing bowlers both here and at the NCA”, narrated Hesson.
For ages, the Men in Green have been playing a brand of cricket which is unacceptable in the shortest format. This is where Mike Hesson’s experience will come into the picture. The former RCB coach is one of the most successful coaches in the T20 format. And he will be hunting for answers from this team, which seems to be lagging behind time.
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