Dubai : Ahead of Pakistan's Asia Cup clash against Oman, Pakistan coach Mike Hesson hailed Mohammed Nawaz as the "best spinner in the world" and also expressed happiness over how the batting line-up is developing in the absence of experienced stars Babar Azam and Mohammed Rizwan.
Pakistan will be kickstarting their Asia Cup campaign against Oman in Dubai on Friday. Pakistan is heading into the tournament with plenty of momentum, having won the tri-nation series in the UAE against the hosts and Afghanistan, defeating the latter in the final at Sharjah.
Hesson's side enters the Asian Cup having won 10 of their most recent 13 T20I contests, and the majority of those have come with a new-look top six that has not included the experienced duo of Babar-Rizwan.
It has left the likes of opener Fakhar Zaman and fellow top-order batter Saim Ayub to fill the void, and Hesson believes his batters are still evolving and learning how to complement each other when at the crease.
"It is very much a developing batting lineup," Hesson said on Thursday as quoted by ICC. "And there are a number of players who, on their day, can win you the game, but they do not have as many good days as you would like at the moment. I think that is very fair. The thing for us, though, is we are more interested in the sum of the parts as a batting group."
"Because there are times where 150 is good enough, there are times where 190 might not be. So you have got to, as a batting unit, decide what is required to win the game and see if we can get above that," he added.
While Hesson is still working hard on finding his right batting mix, the coach said he was more than happy with the recent output from his bowlers, and, in particular, his spinners.
Left-armer Mohammad Nawaz was recently adjudged Player of the Series during Pakistan's tri-series triumph over Afghanistan and the UAE, with 10 wickets in five matches at an average of 11.70, including a five-wicket haul in the final, while fellow spinners Abrar Ahmed and Sufiyan Muqeem have displayed plenty of class during the side's recent winning run.
"I guess the beauty of our side is we have got five spinners," Hesson said. "We have got Mohammad Nawaz, who's the best spin bowler in the world at the moment, and he has been ranked that way over the last six months since he has come back in the side.
"And obviously, we have had Abrar (Ahmed) and Sufiyan (Muqeem) do as well as he has. Saim Ayub is now in the top 10 all-rounders in the world. So obviously, that comes on the back of his improved performance with the ball. And Salman Ali Agha has hardly bowled, and he is obviously the Test spinner for Pakistan."
And while Hesson said his immediate focus was on making a winning start at the Asia Cup against Oman, the Pakistan coach knows there will be plenty of focus on their second match at the tournament when they take on arch-rival India on Sunday.
"We know that India is obviously hugely confident, and rightfully so, in terms of how well they've played," Hesson added. "We are very much focused on improving as a team, sort of day by day, and not getting too far ahead of ourselves, but we're well aware of the... I wouldn't say the enormity of the task, I would say the challenge of the task ahead, and we are certainly looking forward to it," he concluded.