Head coach Mike Hesson said that after watching Fakhar Zaman’s initial shots, the team got the impression that the pitch at Mirpur was good.
In the very first over, Fakhar stepped out to Sheikh Mahedi Hasan’s off-spin and hit a boundary. He welcomed Taskin Ahmed with a crisp straight drive for four. In Mahedi’s next over, the left-handed opener sent the ball over the boundary again, this time with a sweep followed by a cut shot. Pakistan got off to a fiery start. But later, head coach Mike Hesson admitted that Fakhar’s explosive beginning might have actually brought trouble for the team.
At the Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium in Mirpur, Fakhar scored 44 runs off 34 balls in the series opener on Sunday. However, no other batsman from the visiting side could capitalize. Apart from Fakhar, everyone else’s strike rate remained below 100.
Pakistan scored 32 runs in the first three overs riding Fakhar’s storm, but managed only 14 runs in the next five overs. Eventually, they were bundled out for 110, losing by 7 wickets.
In the post-match press conference, Hesson said, “Without a doubt, we started quite well. That was mainly due to Fakhar Zaman’s four or five excellent shots. That gave us a somewhat wrong impression about the nature of the wicket. After that, we ended up causing trouble for ourselves.”
The Pakistan head coach did not shy away from accepting responsibility for their batting failure.
“We made some poor decisions. When the ball started swinging and jumping suddenly, it became difficult—something we failed to assess properly. Instead, we went for risky shots. A few run-outs, especially losing a set batter, made the situation even tougher for the team.”
From the start, Pakistan’s batsmen looked rushed. Even after losing two wickets in the first three overs, none of them tried to settle in at the crease. Their reckless hitting only worsened their predicament.
When asked about this, Hesson once again referred to the false signal they received from Fakhar’s blazing batting.
“Fakhar played some fantastic shots early on, which gave us a lead that felt a bit inconsistent with how the pitch was actually behaving. It made us think the wicket might indeed be good. But when the pacers started attacking, it became clear the pitch wasn’t that easy. Unfortunately, we couldn’t adapt quickly enough.”
