Pakistan coach Hesson hails ‘exceptional’ Rana

Pakistan head coach Mike Hesson rued his side’s poor batting and heaped praises on Bangladesh’s Nahid Rana after their eight-wicket defeat against Bangladesh in the first of three ODIs in Mirpur today.

“The wicket was fine. I think it played pretty well. Nahid Rana was exceptional,” Hesson praised the 23-year-old pacer, who claimed 5-24 -- his maiden five-wicket haul in ODIs.

“Until he came into the game, we were ticking along okay and he changed the game,” Hesson said, referring to the 41-run opening stand between debutants Sahibzada Farhan and Maaz Sadaqat before Rana triggered a dramatic collapse and took Pakistan’s first five wickets.

“He bowls hard into the surface, presents the seam and mixes in cross-seam deliveries. I thought he was a really promising bowler. Six [Five] wickets in an ODI is a pretty special effort. He deserves all the recognition he gets,” the Pakistan coach added.

Hesson did not shy away from criticising Pakistan’s batting display, who were bundled out for a mere 114.

“It’s a pretty disappointing batting performance. There’s no shying away from that. And it wasn’t just the youngsters. We were exposed to some good bowling and then went into our shells a little bit. We have to turn things around really quickly,” he said.

The Pakistan coach added that the team will need to respond strongly in the remaining matches of the series. “All of us need to stand up and put in a better performance with the bat, and we’ll look to do that in games two and three,” he concluded.