Hasan Nawaz says ‘cricket not over yet’ after defeat against India at Asian Games

Pakistan’s Hasan Nawaz plays a shot during their Asian Games men’s cricket competition final against India at the Korogi Sports Park in Nisshin on October 3, 2026. — AFPRAWALPINDI: Emerging Pakistan batter Hasan Nawaz insisted that cricket was not over for the team following their narrow defeat at the hands of arch-rivals India in the final of the Asian Games 2026 men’s cricket competition last week.

Nawaz waged a lone battle for Pakistan in the high-octane fixture and top-scored for them with a gutsy 96-run knock in the daunting 212-run pursuit, but his efforts ultimately went in vain as the Green Shirts fell short by 19 runs.

His 96, which is now the highest individual in a T20I involving the two traditional rivals, earned him praise from legendary cricketers like Shahid Afridi and Mohammad Yousuf, and also a place in the Pakistan squad for their three-match home series against Sri Lanka, slated to commence on Friday.

The right-handed batter, while addressing the media on the sidelines of the home side’s training session at the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium earlier today, rued “small mistakes” that led to their defeat in the gold-medal match, but insisted that it was not over for the Green Shirts as they would get to face their traditional rivals again in the future.

He also stressed the need for moving on from the setbacks, adding that the team will try not to make the same mistakes when they face them again in future, as he insisted that cricket was not over with the Asian Games defeat.

“Yes, when I played a match against them earlier, I dropped out of the team because of that,” Nawaz told reporters here.

“And now that I have come back, I have played against them as well, Alhamdulillah. But we were not able to win the match because we were in a lot of trouble. The match was very close, and we made a lot of small mistakes which led to us losing.

“When you lose, and if you are stuck in that thing, how will you move forward? So, when you make mistakes, you learn and move forward. And we will try not to repeat the mistakes we made there.

“This cricket is not over yet. There will be a match with them again. We will make new mistakes again. And we will try to win the match. So, this is just a part of the game.”

When asked about his individual performance during the aforementioned fixture, the 24-year-old acknowledged India as the No.1 team in the world and thus insisted that his gutsy knock against the reigning world champions gave him a “lot of confidence”.

“Of course, they are the number one team in the world. Everyone knows that,” Nawaz stated.

“And you get a lot of confidence to perform against them. And when I was going to Japan from CPL, I had planned to do something for my country and to win a gold medal, but there were small mistakes which led to us losing the match. And I got a lot of confidence to perform against them.

Nawaz further revealed that he was confident of leading Pakistan to victory over their traditional rivals in the blockbuster final but rued that the lack of runs in about one or two overs in the middle eventually deprived them of the glory.

“When I went to bat, there were not many runs in the circle. And my plan was that I believe in myself. That I can do it. I believe that I can go to the end and take the whole match. So, I had that in my mind. They also had a bowler shot,” Nawaz shared.

“In the death over, they had a boomerang over. And they didn’t have the rest. So, the plan was going well. But because of the one or two overs in between, we were a little down. But I felt that we could have won,” he added.

Notably, the outing against India in the Asian Games final was only his second after being dropped from the national team in November last year, and Nawaz revealed that the Mike Hesson-led Pakistan coaching panel had given him “a lot of plans” after the snub.

The right-handed batter further shared he worked on the plans laid out by the team management, while also claiming to have benefited from playing on the tough pitches of the local grounds and against new and different bowlers during his time away from the Pakistan T20I fold.

“Yes, when I dropped out of the team, Mike and all the coaches gave me a lot of plans. And I worked on that,” Nawaz revealed.

“And the thing about the local ground is that you get tough pitches and you play new and different bowlers. I feel that you should play cricket, and when you come to a good pitch, everything becomes easy.”