Pakistan coach Mike Hesson has urged his side to put their loss to India at the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup behind them quickly and move their focus to qualifying for the next phase of the tournament.
Hesson’s side fell to a 61-run loss to their arch-rival in Colombo on Sunday and will now likely have to defeat Namibia in their final Group A fixture to have any chance of qualifying for the Super Eights phase of the event.
While Hesson was clearly disappointed with Pakistan’s efforts against India, the coach knows there are always plenty of ups and downs in tournament play and wants his side to re-focus quickly ahead of their showdown with Namibia on Wednesday.
“We’re really disappointed we didn’t play as well as we could, but we’re also part of a tournament and we know in tournament play that it’s not always going to go your way,” Hesson said.
“So, our job is to pick ourselves up and make sure that we’re very good in two or three days.”
Pakistan did reasonably well with the ball to restrict India to 175 for 7 from their 20 overs on Sunday, but their run chase never amounted to much following the loss of four wickets inside the Powerplay.
Hesson admitted some of his players may have succumbed to the pressure of the big occasion and is looking forward to seeing how they respond over the remainder of the T20 World Cup.
“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,” Hesson said. “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. All these guys are international players, they’re all good players, but when the pressure comes on, are they going to trust the decision making or are they going to probably go outside that?
“That’s something that for us to progress further in this tournament it’s something we’re going to have to get better at,” he said.
