‘Lost His Mind’: Ganguly’s Brutal Take On Pakistan Coach’s ‘Best Spinner’ Remark | Cricket News

Sourav Ganguly believes Mohammad Nawaz needs to prove that Mike Hesson has ‘not lost his mind’ by calling him the best spinner in the world. Hesson made the claim before Pakistan’s first match of the 2025 Asia Cup, saying that Nawaz had been ranked best in the world since returning to the national side earlier this year.

The comment drew a lot of criticism on social media. Nawaz, 31, has played 72 T20Is for Pakistan, picking up 71 wickets in 69 innings at 22.42, while also scoring 657 runs. Before his comment, Nawaz had picked up a hat-trick against Afghanistan, becoming the third Pakistani to do so. As for rankings, in the latest ICC men’s T20I ranks for bowlers, he’s placed 30th overall, with over half of the bowlers above him being spinners too.

Ganguly was told about Hesson’s comment in an interview with Anand Bazar Patrika, and his assessment was quite brutal: “Okay. Then let that spinner prove this time that the coach has not lost his mind.”

In Pakistan’s tournament opener against Oman, Nawaz picked up one wicket while also scoring 19 runs in the middle overs.

Afridi-Rauf No Match In Talent To Wasim-Waqar: Ganguly

Ganguly also mentioned that the quality of personnel in the Pakistani team has come down drastically, saying that the current pace group comprising Shaheen Shah Afridi and Haris Rauf was of no match to the past.

“The quality has deteriorated a lot. Wasim Akram, Waqar Younis, Shoaib Akhtar, Saeed Anwar, Inzamam-ul-Haq, Younis Khan, Mohammad Yousuf. All world-class cricketers. And now look who is playing for Pakistan. Excuse me, Shaheen Shah Afridi and Wasim Akram are not the same,” said Ganguly. “There can be no comparison between the two teams in terms of talent,” he added.

“Babar Azam is not there. Rizwan is not there. There is that boy, Fakhar Zaman. In bowling, there are Shaheen Shah Afridi and Harris Rauf. Really, where are Wasim-Waqar and Shoaib, and where are Shaheen Shah Afridi-Harris Rauf? No match in terms of talent. The rest is one and a half days on the field. A lot of things can happen; that is a different matter,” said Ganguly.