Hafeez praises Hassan Nawaz while highlighting tactical errors after India defeat

LAHORE: Former Pakistan captain Mohammad Hafeez has criticised the tactical decisions made during the Asian Games 2026 men's cricket final, saying several errors overshadowed the team's otherwise commendable efforts.

Pakistan secured their first-ever silver medal in the men's cricket competition at the Asian Games after suffering a 19-run defeat to India in a hard-fought final. Chasing 212, the Green Shirts were restricted to 192 in their 20 overs.

Hafeez took to social media platform ‘X’ to highlight the tactical mistakes, suggesting that such errors are often not acknowledged, while praising young batter Hassan Nawaz for his outstanding batting display.

"Some tactical errors ruin many good efforts during the game. M sure no one will accept those as always therefore we halted as team. Nevertheless superb batting display by very talented Hassan Nawaz," Hafeez wrote.

Nawaz, whose previous appearance in the shortest format before the Asian Games semi-final against Bangladesh came in November last year, spearheaded Pakistan's fightback with a gritty 96 in the high-intensity final.

His knock is now the highest individual score by a Pakistani batter against India in a T20I.

Opting to bat first, reigning world champions India posted a mammoth 211/6 in their allotted 20 overs, with opener Abhishek Sharma and middle-order batter Tilak Varma smashing blistering half-centuries.

Chasing a daunting 212, Pakistan endured a shaky start as they lost their top order, including captain Sahibzada Farhan, inside seven overs with only 39 runs on the board.

Amid the early collapse, Nawaz walked in at No. 4 and launched an aggressive assault on the Indian bowlers. The 24-year-old smashed seven sixes, equalling the record for the most sixes by a Pakistani batter in a T20I innings, along with five fours.

His blistering knock kept Pakistan in contention, but a lack of substantial support from the other end, particularly after Saim Ayub's dismissal in the 15th over, ultimately left Nawaz's efforts in vain.

Nawaz was dismissed off the final delivery of the innings, agonisingly short of a deserved century that would have been his second in T20 cricket.

By the time the final ball was bowled, Pakistan required 20 runs to win, leaving Nawaz with no realistic chance of reaching three figures. Had he completed the milestone, he would have become the first batter to score a century in a Pakistan-India men's T20I.