Pakistan coach reveals how Babar can return for T20 World Cup ICC Men's T20 World Cup, 2026
Hesson indicated it was important that players that had performed well in recent white-ball matches were rewarded and said that choosing batters that scored quickly would be part of his selection process going forward.
"We were challenged with three different surfaces (in recent matches against Bangladesh and West Indies)" Hesson said.
"In Lahore, the surfaces were flat and the batting excelled. We went to Bangladesh where they were incredibly challenging and low-scoring games. Our top-order sets the game up. All the games we won the top order performed really well.
"The third game in the West Indies, our openers put on 140 (138). We need that at a run rate that gets us ahead of the game. T20 is all about setting the game up and being ahead of the game all the time in case you get yourself out. From a batting point of view we've got a line-up that can continue to do that."
Pakistan squad for tri-series and Asia Cup: Salman Ali Agha (c), Abrar Ahmed, Faheem Ashraf, Fakhar Zaman, Haris Rauf, Hasan Ali, Hasan Nawaz, Hussain Talat, Khushdil Shah, Mohammad Haris, Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Waseem Jnr, Sahibzada Farhan, Saim Ayub, Salman Mirza, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Sufyan Moqim
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The National
43 minutes ago
- The National
Usman Khan is the real ghost of Asia Cup 2025, not Babar Azam, Mohammad Rizwan or Shreyas Iyer
Whatever politics are at play, whatever the motivation behind the omission of Babar Azam from Pakistan's squad for the Asia Cup, he will cope. So, Mohammad Rizwan has lost his place, too, and been demoted to the B category of Pakistan's central contracts? Well, boo hoo. It does seem remarkable that Shreyas Iyer has not made the India squad for the competition, which starts in Abu Dhabi on September 9. But all those trophies he has accrued in his stellar career to date will cushion his fall, not to mention all his IPL millions. And Yashasvi Jaiswal is certainly unlucky to miss out with the elevation of Shubman Gill to the India squad. But it is all relative. Then consider the case of Usman Khan. It is both a curious one, and sad, too. If life had worked out a little differently, the 30-year-old batter from Karachi would have been getting ready to line up for the UAE against Pakistan in this Asia Cup. He was due to qualify via the ICC's residency criteria in May of this year. That would have meant a debut series in Uganda for which he would definitely have been selected, given his talent, followed by the massive opportunity presented by the Asia Cup. Usman first stated his intention to play for the UAE in 2021, after arriving to play domestic cricket here during Covid. He had followed the path trodden by many nondescript players in the past. That of travelling from the subcontinent to the UAE to play cricket for one of the many corporate teams who prop up the domestic game. Companies offer talented players a wage, a visa, and a job – Usman worked variously as a security guard and a storekeeper - in the hope they will help the staff team win some matches, maybe even some trophies. Often the players remain anonymous, and return home soon after. Sometimes they stay for longer, and achieve no further honours in cricket, but earn a steady enough income to help their families back at home. 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