Pakistan head coach Mike Hesson is looking to build a pool of talented players for next year’s ODI World Cup, scheduled to be held in South Africa, Zimbabwe and Namibia.
“Look, I think with one-day cricket with the World Cup in mind, in a year and a half, you know, we have to widen the group. So, rather than the same players always being selected, the ODI squad is a work in progress. And there’s a number of areas we need to develop. And we need to make sure, come the World Cup in a year and a half, that we’ve actually got the best squad,” Hesson said.
Pakistan begins its preparations for the showpiece event with a three-match ODI series against Australia, which starts later this month. Ahead of the series, Hesson and his coaching staff have organized a white-ball camp to assess Pakistan’s emerging talent as well as its established players.
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“The last two weeks have been a good chance for us to identify some of that new talent, challenge them against some of the existing stuff, or existing players, and work out where the gaps are, you know, because some of these young guys are promising, but, you know, still got a lot of work to do,” the coach said.
Pakistan’s 16-member squad for the series against Australia features several young players, and Hesson views this as an opportunity to assess the country’s emerging talent.
“With the likes of Fakhar Zaman, Saim Ayub, and Usman Khan all sort of being out, it gives some opportunities for us to look at some younger ones, particularly in the batting side. They’ll be exposed to an Australian side who’ll be hurting from their performance over here last time,” Hesson explained.
The coach, however, called for patience and said it was not always easy for emerging players to make a mark on the international stage straightaway.
“I guess there needs to be a little bit of patience with some of these younger players because, sure, it would be great if they come in straight away and perform, but reality in international cricket is not everybody can do that. Sometimes it takes a little bit of time to feel that you’re confident enough to perform,” he cautioned.
On Australia’s last tour of Pakistan, which took place earlier this year, the visitors were blanked 0-3 in a three-match T20I series, and they will be eager to settle scores this time around.
“Their squad looks strong and they’ll be coming over here. ODI cricket is probably one of their stronger formats at the moment. That group is certainly probably better than their T20 at the moment,” Hesson said of the visiting Australian team.
Published on May 23, 2026
