Pakistan coach Mike Hesson slams Shere Bangla pitch after T20I loss; Bangladesh disagree
Pakistan white-ball head coach Mike Hesson labelled the pitch at the Shere Bangla National Stadium as 'unacceptable' for international cricket, even as he acknowledged his batters failed to assess the surface correctly in the first T20I against Bangladesh. However, the hosts had a very different view.
After being put in to bat, Pakistan crumbled to a modest 110 all out in 19.3 overs, a total that Bangladesh chased down with ease in 15.3 overs, securing a 7-wicket win to go 1-0 up in the three-match series.
Pakistan were reduced to 46/5 by the eighth over, as their batters faltered, losing wickets while attempting high-risk strokes. Three run-outs only compounded their woes, culminating in a disappointing total.
After the match, Hesson lashed out at the pitch, calling it substandard.
“I think (the pitch) is not ideal for anybody. Teams are trying to prepare for the Asia Cup or the (T20) World Cup. It is not acceptable. It is still no excuse for some of the decisions we made with the bat. But this pitch is not up to international standards," Hesson told ESPNcricinfo.
He added that an initially promising start misled the batters into misjudging the surface.
“We got off to a little bit of a flyer. Fakhar Zaman played four or five shots. It gave us a false indication about how the surface was playing. We didn't help ourselves through the middle. We chose some poor options.
When the ball started to nip through and bounced steeply, we probably didn’t assess that it was a bit more challenging to play high-risk shots. A couple of run-outs also didn’t help.”
Despite Hesson’s strong criticism, Bangladesh opener Parvez Hossain Emon dismissed the notion that the pitch was poor. He pointed to Bangladesh’s comfortable chase as proof.
“We didn't feel (it was a bad pitch) as we chased it down in less than 16 overs. We could have scored 150–160 runs if we batted the full 20 overs."
"It may be that they couldn't adjust to the pitch. We adjusted better than them. The Dhaka pitch usually benefits the bowlers. We tried to assess the wicket quickly — that was our first plan,” said Emon.
Continuing his tirade, Hesson argued that such conditions would not benefit Bangladesh either, especially with sterner tests looming.
“You need good cricket wickets to develop cricketers. There were some good wickets during the BPL, to be fair. But this is not up to the standard when international cricket is being played."
"I don’t think it helps them when they leave Bangladesh. Also, batting first in these situations is challenging — when you're unsure whether 100, 130 or 150 is a good score. I don’t think (the pitch) is good for anybody."
"It still doesn't take away the fact that you have to perform better on any surface. We will look at it as a team,” he concluded.
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