Mike Hesson speaks ahead of PAK vs NZ Super 8 game | T20 World Cup 2026 | Salman Ali Agha

Описание: Mike Hesson Urges Focus and Clarity Ahead of Pakistan’s Super 8 Showdown Against New Zealand

Colombo, 20 February 2026: Pakistan head coach Mike Hesson addressed the media with calm determination ahead of his side’s crucial Super 8 clash against New Zealand in the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026. With the tournament entering a decisive phase, Hesson emphasized discipline, smart execution, and mental resilience as key factors for success.

[Reporter:]

Now the tougher stage starts. How ready is the team and what do you think are the areas of improvement?

[Mike Hesson:]

We've certainly spent the last six months getting to this point. So the fact we made the Super 8s is the position we want to find ourselves in. We've played some pretty good cricket, I think we've won eight of our last ten games, and we've had many different players stand up at different times, so confident with where the group is at. We didn't play so well out on this surface last time, so looking forward to putting that right tomorrow. And I think it's probably just adjusting to the conditions a little bit better than we did last time here. But outside of that, , boys are prepared well.

[Reporter:]

Coach, Mark Chapman was here in the afternoon and he said, we have played a lot of cricket with Pakistan in the last few years and we know what are they bringing up. Any compliments for that? And secondly, can you please tell us, Usman Tariq is your attacking option or the defensive one?

[Mike Hesson:]

I mean, Mark Chapman has an incredible record against Pakistan, both in Pakistan and at home for him. So he's faced a lot of our bowlers, and he's had some success. But this pitch will bring some different challenges and we'll have some different thoughts around how we might find a way of trying to subdue him a little bit. But he's certainly not the only threat, there's plenty of them. So we won't be focused just on one, but your question was Usman Tariq, I think he's one of those bowlers around the world that does both. He's able to attack and defend at the same time. And that's an incredible skill to have, so we're very fortunate that he's on our side.

[Reporter:]

If we talk about numbers, Pakistan has an edge on New Zealand. They won five out of seven T20 World Cup matches. Last time New Zealand beat Pakistan was in 2016. So do you think there's any sort of psychological edge on that numbers? And if we talk about Pakistan, Pakistan has climatised in this condition and they have come, just arrived there and they didn't have a proper training session there as well. So do you think there's a psychological edge Pakistan has in this match?

[Mike Hesson:]

I don't think games are won or lost psychologically. I think they lost, they won through skill. , New Zealand have played a huge amount on the subcontinent in recent times. Sri Lanka tends to spin a little bit sharper than it does in India as a general rule. And, we saw that a little bit at SSC. We saw that also during the first innings in particular here the other night. So I don't believe anyone's got a psychological edge. Obviously, I remember the 2016 game. I was there at the time. I remember that and I remember us preparing pretty well against Pakistan. We had a lot of different threats. So, yeah, what's happened in the past is in the past. We're looking forward to starting the Super 8s well tomorrow.

[Reporter:]

Mike, we are failing to understand why Babar Azam is batting at number 4. When we look at the timeline of Babar Azam, he opened in LP, he opened in Big Bash, he opened for Pakistan when he was captain, even in PSL. But why are you making him play at number four? Because this seems to be a cricketing suicidal for Babar Azam, making him play at number four in T20s.

[Mike Hesson:]

Well, look, it's what the team requires. And Babar is well aware of that. I think he's well aware strike rate in the power play in World Cups is less than 100 in T20s. So clearly, that's not a role that we think here we need. We think he's a fine player through the middle, if required, in terms of if we're in a little bit of trouble, or as we saw against the USA, once he gets himself set, he can increase his strike rate at that point. So, we brought Babar back in for a specific role post the Asia Cup. We wanted some batsmanship through the middle, and he certainly brings that for us. And he did in many games throughout the last 10. So, the other day we got to the 12th over mark and at that point, Babar Azam is not the best person to come in. We've got plenty of other options who can come in and perform that role towards the end. And Babar is actually the first to acknowledge that. He knows that he's got a certain set of skills that the team require, and there are certain times where other players can perform that role more efficiently.


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