Pakistan head coach Mike Hesson wants his players to block out the noise and focus intently on cricket as they gear up to face India in the Asia Cup 2025 final. The neighbours will lock horns for the third time in the subcontinental tournament, with off-field issues and on-field gestures sprucing up the rivalry a great deal.
“Look, my message to the players is just focus on cricket and that certainly we will be doing. In terms of gestures there has always been passion in terms of high-pressure games,” stated Hesson.
“We’ve deserved this opportunity. Now it’s up to us to make the most of it. All games up to this point have been about getting ourselves in a position to win the trophy. The only match that counts is the final, and that will be our focus, to play our best game when it matters,” he added.
Hesson said Pakistan are drawing heart from their clinical victory over Bangladesh, especially since they managed to end up on the right side despite being under pressure early in the game.
“Look, whenever you reach different phases of a tournament, your opposition often doesn’t allow you to play the perfect game, and we were far from perfect. We realized that in the first 10 overs,” said Hesson.
“But there’s a huge amount of character in this group. We’ve won many games in the last few months where we were far from controlling the full 40 overs. We had to fight back, but one thing I can say is that the team is incredibly proud to represent Pakistan,” he remarked.
“Every single player believed that we could fight our way out of it. That’s what you want in a team, especially when representing a country. So yes, I’m incredibly proud of the way we fought. We don’t want to be four for 33 all the time, but the fact that we can win from that position shows the character of this group,” he concluded.
Hesson also weighed in on the fielding display in Dubai, pointing out the problems posed by the ‘ring of fire’ floodlights. While Pakistan were razor-sharp in the field during their do-or-die game against Bangladesh, their opponents dropped three catches which came back to haunt them. Tournament favourites India have also been far from tidy, putting down 12 catches in the competition so far, including eight in their last two games.
“Look, the ring of fire they talk about certainly affected everybody,” Hesson said when asked about the conditions.
“We were very good today, other than the very last catch right at the very end. Up to the point we were very solid, but it’s more if the ball comes to a certain trajectory and you can practice as much as you like but if you lose the ball in the light it’s hard to get it again,” he explained.
“So everyone knows about it, everyone practiced it, but if someone is good enough to hit the ball right into the lights, occasionally your depth of perception is going to disappear. It’s just another challenge, isn’t it?” he trailed off.
