Pakistan head coach Mike Hesson admitted on Wednesday that his team still has ground to cover if they want to challenge India at the Asian Games.India’s men’s team has won back-to-back T20 World Cups and will also defend their Asian Games title in Japan.Since Hesson took charge in May last year, Pakistan have lost to India three times in the 2025 Asia Cup and once at this year’s Twenty20 World Cup.“India are the benchmark in terms of white ball cricket at the moment and our challenge is to catch up to that,” Hesson said in Karachi before Pakistan’s departure for Japan.The men’s cricket competition at the Asian Games begins on Thursday. India and Pakistan have never played each other at the Games but could meet in the semifinal on October 1 in Nagoya.Asian Games full coverage | Schedule | Medal tallyHesson said Pakistan would be ready if they get the chance to face India.“We are certainly preparing as best we can and if we get an opportunity to play (India) we will certainly put them under pressure like we did in the final of the Asia Cup,” Hesson said, referring to last year’s final in Dubai.Pakistan will begin their campaign against the winners of Pool B, which includes Hong Kong, Oman and Malaysia, in the quarterfinal on September 28.Hesson, however, said the team must focus on getting through the early stages before thinking about a possible semifinal against India.“There is a lot of cricket to be played between now and being able to play in the semi-final for both sides (Pakistan and India), so we are not getting too far ahead of ourselves,” Hesson said.Pakistan have never won a medal in Asian Games cricket. They lost the bronze medal match in 2010 and 2023, while they did not participate in the 2014 edition.
