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Shoaib Akhtar 'hurt', raids Hesson's senseless coaching, Agha's captaincy after losing final: 'No need to bring in Rauf'
Shoaib Akhtar lashed out at the team management, especially pointing out Mike Hesson's 'senseless coaching' for not picking Hasan Nawaz.
Veteran paceman Shoaib Akhtar lashed out at head coach Mike Hesson after Pakistan lost to India in the Asia Cup 2025 final. Pakistan put up another disappointing show with the bat, crumbling in the middle overs and suffering a miserable collapse from 113/1 to 146 all out. India's spin trio of Kuldeep Yadav, Varun Chakaravarthy and Axar Patel spun their web as Pakistan's wickets kept tumbling. Kuldeep was the pick of the bowlers with four wickets, while the other two spinners and Jasprit Bumrah picked two each.
Chasing a moderate target, India suffered a shaky start to its innings, dropping to 20/3 after four overs, including the big wicket of Abhishek Sharma (5). Tilak Varma led the recovery alongside Sanju Samson and Shivam Dube to revive the chase. Left-handed Varma scored 69 not out for India off 53 balls, including a crucial six against Haris Rauf in the 20th over. Rinku Singh hit the winning runs with a four — the only ball he faced in the entire tournament.
After the match, Akhtar didn't hold back and slammed the team management, especially pointing out Hesson's 'senseless coaching' for not picking Hasan Nawaz in the XI to strengthen the middle order.
"It is the fault of the management that is not thinking right. Talking about senseless coaching, I would probably say. I probably – I am going to, sorry to say these kinds of harsh words, but it's senseless coaching," Akhtar said on Tapmad.
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He expressed frustration over Pakistan's batting struggles, criticising the middle order for not rising to the occasion and relying on the likes of Shaheen Afridi and Faheem Ashraf to score big in the lower order.
"Again, the match-winner Hasan Nawaz, and then we have Salman Mirza not playing. Again, it became a little difficult. We are very disappointed, very hurt. It was a Super Sunday, and the whole nation was watching, but our middle order is already a problem. You know it, I know it, we all keep saying our top three batsmen in the middle are a problem. And obviously, if you are asking too much from Mohammad Nawaz, and again, when Shaheen Shah Afridi and Faheem Ashraf have to bat ahead, it's questionable. Again, you expect the lower order to add 50 more runs, so we reach 175 – there are too many errors. Too many mistakes," he added.
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"Salman Agha's captaincy is questionable"
The Rawalpindi Express also bashed Salman Ali Agha's captaincy for giving overs to Rauf over the spinners who were causing trouble for the batters.
"Captaincy is questionable. Bowling changes – when the batters are struggling facing spinners, there was no need to bring in Haris Rauf, he leaked 17 runs in an over which was not the need. There are many reasons we lost, but again, it’s okay. It’s fine," he added.
