“Mike Hesson will be back with his statements” - Former India captain blasts Pakistan ahead of IND vs PAK Asia Cup 2025 Super 4 match

Former opener Kris Srikkanth slammed the Pakistan side, calling them no match for Team India, ahead of the 2025 Asia Cup Super Four clash between the sides in Dubai on Sunday, September 21. Srikkanth also called out Pakistan head coach Mike Hesson for his pre-match statements and expected him to come up with another before the upcoming contest.

India and Pakistan advanced to the Super Fours from Group A, which also involved Oman and the UAE. However, the Men in Blue thumped their arch-rivals in the group stage meeting between the sides by seven wickets.

Talking about the current Pakistan side ahead of the highly anticipated encounter, Srikkanth said on his YouTube channel (21:23):

"It's a big thing for them that they are even allowed to play in such a prestigious tournament. Mike Hesson will be back with his statements tomorrow on how they are a very good team and they were unlucky in the last match against India. You'll go nowhere with Mike Hesson as your coach."

He continued:

"Going forward, they shouldn't be playing with the main teams. Have them among the Associate nations and bring a few of the others there here. Pakistan should be removed from the top seven. From hereon, India-Pakistan matches won't attract crowds. India-Pakistan rivalry has become history. This Pakistan team will give us no scare. This is a seventh division team in a Chennai league."

Pakistan have struggled against India across formats in recent years, losing the last six completed matches.

"He has forgotten about his bowling and started batting well" - Kris Srikkanth on Shaheen Afridi

Kris Srikkanth sarcastically remarked that Pakistan's batting lineup being so poor should warrant Shaheen Afridi to bat at No. 4. Apart from their dismal batting against the Men in Blue, Pakistan also struggled against Oman and the UAE, scoring only 160 and 146, respectively.

"Pakistan have no one in their batting lineup. It's so poor. Even bowling, Shaheen Afridi has completely lost it. If anything, he is their main batter and should bat at No. 4. Because he is tall, he has good reach to strike the ball well. He has forgotten about his bowling and started batting well. Pakistan batters can't even match the effort of Oman today," said Srikkanth (via the aforementioned source).

He concluded:

"All their batters play only cross-batted shots. They have range only from deep mid-wicket and square leg. Even the Oman batters hit straight and play inside out shots. But Pakistan batters can't. They hype up Mohammad Haris but he's very average. They have nobody in their team, where you can say they have a good sense of timing."

Shaheen Afridi has resurrected the Pakistan innings from embarrassment in the last two matches, scoring a 16-ball 33 and a 14-ball 29* against India and the UAE. However, he struggled with the ball against the former, with figures of 0/23 in two overs.

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Edited by Venkatesh Ravichandran