Pakistan last defeated India in 2022 Asia Cup, that was played in T20 format.
Since the 2022 Asia Cup, Pakistan has failed to defeat India in any format. The two nations exclusively compete in multi-nation tournaments; they do not play cricket bilaterally. The Indo-Pak cricket games are among the most watched sporting events in the world, even though the two countries rarely face each other.
Hesson, who joined the Pakistani team in 2025, has witnessed his team fall to their fiercest enemies three times: in the Asia Cup last year and most recently at the T20 World Cup in 2026. He does, however, think that other teams are having difficulty against India in addition to Pakistan.
“In the Asia Cup last year, for example, we won every game except against India. The reality is that every single team in the world is struggling to beat India at the moment. Every team, not just Pakistan. Rightly or wrongly, Pakistan is gauged by how they perform against India. And at the moment, India is not only the best team; they’re the best team by a mile,” Hesson was quoted as saying by Cricinfo.
Hesson added that Pakistan must consistently defeat every team in order to establish itself as a reliable contender in major tournament knockout stages.
“At the T20 World Cup, we lost to England in the Super 8 off the back of a Harry Brook hundred and a very tight game outside of that. We won every [other] game except India. From 2023 to 2025, we didn’t make it out of the pool in ICC events. So, you can’t go from eighth in the world to all of a sudden competing unless you start winning more regular games of cricket,” he said.
Pakistan will next visit the West Indies for two Tests on July 18 and 25. Then they will travel to England for a three-Test series starting August 19.