Pakistan men’s coach Mike Hesson has questioned the way his team is judged largely on the basis of results against India, saying no team in world cricket has found a consistent answer to the current Indian side.Speaking to Cricinfo, Hesson said that Pakistan’s progress should not be measured only by matches against India. The former New Zealand coach, who has taken over Pakistan’s white-ball teams in 2025, acknowledged India’s current position at the top of world cricket and said Pakistan is not the only side fighting against them.The two teams have not played a bilateral series for over a decade due to political reasons. They now only meet in multi-nation tournaments, where India have dominated the rivalry since 2022, including three wins over Pakistan in the 2025 Asia Cup and a 61-run victory in the 2026 T20 World Cup.“In the Asia Cup last year, for example, we won every game except against India,” Hesson told Cricinfo. “The reality is that every team in the world is struggling to beat India at the moment. Every team, not just Pakistan.”Hesson said Pakistan’s performances against other teams often go unnoticed because of the focus on India.“Rightly or wrongly, Pakistan are measured by how they play against India. And at the moment, India are not just the best team; they are the best team by a mile,” he said. “In the T20 World Cup, we lost to England in the Super 8 after Harry Brook’s hundred and a very close game beyond that. We won everything [other] except India,” he said.The Pakistan coach also pointed to the team’s progress over the past year, saying the results showed they were moving in the right direction.“From 2023 to 2025 we didn’t get out of the group in ICC events. So you can’t go from eighth in the world all of a sudden to the competition unless you start winning regular cricket games. And for us to go from winning about 20 per cent to almost three-quarters of our games a year is a significant improvement.”
