When Mike Hesson signed up for the Pakistan coaching gig, the country was in the midst of aerial combat with its nuclear-armed neighbour. 

Additionally, none of his prior coaching appointments would have had a cricket board chief who is also the country’s interior minister. 

Now six months into a 2-year contract, Hesson seems to have navigated the opening spell on a difficult pitch. 

The 51-year-old understands how to operate in Pakistan’s politically-charged cricketing environment, having coached Islamabad United.

In press conferences and interviews, he demonstrated confidence in a PCB, which, even at the best of times, is under severe scrutiny from its fans. 

The Pakistan coaching job not just entails managing a cricket team, but also the egos of its administrators.

Hesson’s predecessors would have asked him to stay far away from the PCB. 

World Cup-winning coach Gary Kirsten, who was reported to have signed a 2-year contract, resigned after six months. 

Similarly, his replacement, Jason Gillespie, had a bitter pay dispute with the Board. 

This was the backdrop under which the Kiwi signed up for the job. 

Then came the Asia Cup and with it a unique crisis. Anyone, from a player to an administrator, would have been at a loss on how to handle an opposing side on a cricket field that would play a match, but refuse to shake hands after. Images then emerged of Hesson going with Salman Ali Agha to the Indian dressing room to convince them to put up a good show of sportsmanship. 

Being involved in diplomatic overtures would have come under “other duties as assigned” on the job description, and Hesson could have very well declined to intervene. Yet he did, and it is showing the Kiwi as someone who is in tune with the kind of character a Pakistani dressing room, its administration, and the country can get behind.

Figuring out Pakistan cricket

In one of his first pressers for the national team, he agreed with the decision not to include Babar Azam, even giving a plan for what the world’s leading run-scorer in T20Is needed to do to get back in the side. Just a month into dropping Babar, the Sydney Sixers made him one of the most expensive players in the history of the Big Bash League (BBL). This could not have given much confidence in axing a player so highly revered.

Yet he stuck to it, and nearly seven months into the job, Hesson has now coached Pakistan in 24 T20Is, where his record so far has been 16 wins, for a win rate of 66%. Though these wins have come against weaker competition, including Bangladesh, West Indies, and a depleted South African side, they’ve come at a time when several questions were being raised about the side. Before these wins, Pakistan had lost series against New Zealand, South Africa, Australia, and England. 

Meanwhile, in the recently concluded Asia Cup, even just a solitary win in what turned out to be a three-match T20I series against India in the tournament would have bolstered team confidence. 

Road to the World T20
 
Hesson’s captain, Salman Ali Agha, has been found wanting in form, and one would argue that if he wasn’t leading the side, he could be replaced by someone else. 

At the same time, however, his field placements and bowling changes in the Lahore swing of the tour were a key reason why South African wickets kept falling. 

Pakistan is presently only scheduled to play a T20I tri-series against Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe in November, both teams ranked below Pakistan. Even the Afghanistan team that pulled out is ranked below the hosts. There is also presently no domestic T20 tournament scheduled before the 2026 World T20 tournament begins on February 7. 

One hopes that the PCB is planning to bring stronger teams to Pakistan or propose a series in Sri Lanka in the lead-up to the tournament. Competition against teams ranked higher up will be the only litmus test that avoids “shock” embarrassment as the global event takes place. 

The World T20 is going to be another politically charged event, given that the team is going to only play matches in Sri Lanka, while the rest of the teams also play across India. Hesson might soon have to manage another realpolitik.