“Pakistan is still the best”, says the coach in a bizarre statement, for 55 packages from India

“Pakistan is the best team in this Asia Cup” – Wahab Riaz’s claim would have been surprising in any context, but it came moments after his team was bowled out by India for 55 runs. The Pakistan coach’s assessment left everyone confused India chased down the target in just 8.4 overs and sealed it by seven wickets on Saturday in Dubai.

Riaz made a bizarre statement during his post-match press conference when he backed Pakistan to lift the Women’s Asia Cup despite their emphatic defeat. He argued that the conditions suited his team and insisted that the players could quickly put their poor performance against India behind them.

IND vs PAK, Women’s Asia Cup: Highlights | Scorecard

“I still believe that Pakistan is the best side in this Asia Cup to lift the trophy because the conditions really suit us,” Riaz told reporters.

The confidence came after Pakistan endured a disastrous batting spell. They were dismissed for 55 in 18.1 overs, their lowest total in T20I cricket on record, before India reached the target with 68 balls remaining.

“We will come back and discuss what we did wrong against India. We will try not to make the same mistake,” Riaz said.

Pakistan has been trying to build any kind of partnership, only Muneeba Ali and Shawal Zulfiqar managed double figure scores. India’s bowlers maintained the pressure throughout with Shree Charani taking three wickets while Deepti Sharma and Prema Rawat took two each.

RIAZ DEFENDS SQUAD OVERHAUL

Riaz was also asked about former Pakistan captain San Mir’s criticism of the decision to make seven changes to the squad after the T20 World Cup earlier this year.

The Pakistan coach has defended the overhaul, claiming that the experienced players who have been left out have not produced the results expected of them.

“We made changes keeping the future in mind. The players who played before played a lot of World Cups and Asia Cups but we were not getting results,” said Riaz.

“It was time to go with new faces and bring new girls into the mix to build the team for the upcoming tournaments,” he added.

PAKISTAN SEMIFINALS TWILIGHT HOPE

Pakistan now face Hong Kong in their final group match and cannot afford another defeat if they are to remain in contention for the semi-finals. They have two points from two games and are level with Thailand in the group.

India, meanwhile, have already secured a place in the last four after winning all three of their group matches. Their latest win also extended their dominant record against Pakistan in women’s T20 cricket.

– The end

Issued by:

Debodinna Chakraborty

Published on:

06 Sep 2026 10:40 IST