Pakistan head coach Mike Hesson has defended their decision to bowl first on a challenging Premadasa deck and instead attributed the batting of Ishan Kishan and India’s bowling in the powerplay for their 61-run defeat. In what turned out to be a one-sided contest again between these teams at this T20 World Cup, Pakistan, chasing a target of 176, folded for 114 in 18 overs. So far at the Premadasa, where the spinners have called the shots in slow conditions, teams have preferred to bat first. On Friday, against Zimbabwe, Australia played the price for bowling first as the pitch slowed down considerably through the course of the afternoon. On Sunday, in the night fixture, with an eye on dew, Pakistan chose to bowl first, and their decision appeared to backfire. However, Hesson defended the call. “Look, I think if you look at the game, the ball spun half as much in the second innings and the ball skid on. So there’s nothing wrong with the decision to bowl first, it was the quality of the bowling in the first six overs and also the way Ishan Kishan played in terms of took the game away from us. So certainly nothing to do with the pitch slowing down. It didn’t slow down, it spun less. So you’ve got to look at the facts rather than the emotive accountability. I mean, the ball, they bowled nicely up front with a seam. We took some poor options, but it certainly wasn’t the pitch,” Hesson said. ALSO READ | Ishan flips momentum, Saim Ayub uses flight & turn, Bumrah-Hardik as India rout Pakistan by biggest margin On a slow surface where even the Indian batsmen struggled to keep the tempo going, Ishan’s innings seemed an aberration as he hammered 77 off just 40 deliveries. More importantly, during his knock he had neutralised any threat offered by the Pakistan spinners. Hesson said with that knock Ishan ended up giving India a total that was more than par. “I think the way Ishan played took the game away from us. And I think to be fair to India, they probably got about 25 above par on that surface. And then from a batting point of view, we didn’t really give ourselves a chance in terms of adjusting to conditions,” he said. Speaking off the batting performance, Hesson didn’t hold back. On what was always going to be a stiff target to chase, Pakistan’s chase all but ended even before it took in the first two overs where they lost Sahibzada Farhan, Saim Ayub and captain Salman Aga and Hesson questioned if the team stuck to the plans when put under pressure. “Look it’s it is very much when a guy’s putting you under pressure, it’s – are you going to stick to your basics or are you going to go away from that? And I think that’s going to be a real challenge because as the tournament progresses, we’ll be put under pressure again. And it’s how we respond when we’re under the pump,” Hesson said. ALSO READ | Jasprit Bumrah masterclass in Colombo: the fast bowler Pakistan wishes they had producedStory continues below this ad Hesson felt the nature of the target probably played on the minds of the batsmen even before they began their chase. “I think when you see a score and you know that it’s probably a little bit above par, you almost feel like you’ve got to play like Superman and take the game on earlier than the conditions allow you to. And I think we lost wickets early on to shots that I’m sure on that surface they were pretty tough – tough options,” Hesson said. Hesson was glowing in his praise for Ishan, who threw Pakistan’s match-ups to the bin. Having seen Ishan during his stint in the IPL as coach of Punjab Kings and Royal Challengers Bengaluru, Hesson knows the left-hander’s strengths and weaknesses. That he prepared Agha as a match-up to Ishan because India would expect one of Saim Ayub or Abrar Ahmed showed a lot went into their preparation, but Ishan proved to be too good on the night. “I think he’s fearless. He’s able to score both sides of the ground. So he’s not just committed to the leg side. We know he’s incredibly strong there, but he can reverse. So if you’ve got spin, especially in the power play, it can be a challenge. But I think the fact that he’s in a rare vein of form, applied a lot of pressure to our spinners and probably took them away from the basics. Outside of him, no one really scored better than a run a ball other than Dube who was slightly better, but it was tough. And that certainly was a standout amongst the whole match, really,” Hesson said.
‘Ishan Kishan took the game away’: Pakistan head coach Mike Hesson defends bowl first decision against India in Colombo defeat
