"Mohammad Nawaz is the best spin bowler in the world at the moment": Mike Hesson

[BouncerGuy]

Mike Hesson shared the following thoughts in a press conference ahead of the Asia Cup 2025 opening game against Oman:

"I don't think you can expect this pitch to spin as much as it did in Sharjah. Even yesterday, the ball didn't spin a huge amount. Whenever you have wrist spinners, the surface doesn't matter as much. I guess the beauty of our side is that we have five spinners. We have Mohammad Nawaz, who's the best spin bowler in the world at the moment and has been ranked that way for the last six months since he's been back on the team. We've also had Abrar Ahmed and Sufiyan Muqeem. Saim Ayub is now in the top ten all-rounders in the world, which obviously comes from his improved performance with the ball. Salman Ali Agha has hardly bowled, and he's obviously the test spinner for Pakistan. We've got a lot of spin-bowling options if we think the conditions suit. If not, we have five seamers who allow us to either go for air speed, change of pace, or reverse swing, depending on what we think the surface will provide."

 

[BouncerGuy]

@Devadwal Here you go... whole stuff from hesson about spin attack..

 

[Devadwal]

@Devadwal Here you go... whole stuff from hesson about spin attack..

Meri thread mein kate lage the kya bhai

Anyway he is hyping Nawaz based on performance against low level teams/ or where conditions massively favoured spinners

Lets see what will he do in Asia cup . Nawaz is good utility allrounder for pakistan but calling him best spinner in the World is absolutely wrong.

 

[Major]

Nawaz is the best left arm spinner in Pakistan no doubt.

His issues were mainly related to having rubbish captains guiding him and plus a very rubbish system in place. Babar Azam being his captain didnt help.

In PSL, he got added in islamabad united and doesnt get to feature in games cause of Shadabs insecurity.

Its good that Hesson came in and recognized that this guy is good and is being just wasted by not being played.

 

[Mamoon]

Nawaz is the best spinner in the same world where you are the best coach, Haris is the best WK, Saim and Farhan are the best openers, Agha is the best captain and H.Nawaz is the best hitter.

 

[PakPremi]

Nawaz is a good spin bowler but lacks confidence when attacked, he needs to continue to bowl to his strength and in right channels without worrying about aggression from the batsman. Mike Hesson claiming best in the world even if he is basi g in recent performances is an exaggeration, but he has performed well so far though Pakistan have not played good teams that play spin really well to judge his good form.

 

[Professionalismandflair]

Mike. Calm down. He really isn’t. And when the pressure gets white hot, you’ll see what he’s got. Or not.

 

[Muhammad Saad]

No bowler without any mental strength can become best in the world.

 

[Obaidd]

Saim Ayub is now in the top ten all-rounders in the world, which obviously comes from his improved performance with the ball.

In search of an opener we found an ‘all-rounder’.

 

[Major]

Nawaz is the best spinner in the same world where you are the best coach, Haris is the best WK, Saim and Farhan are the best openers, Agha is the best captain and H.Nawaz is the best hitter.

Bro u used to call nawaz the best spinnerin pakistan few years back

 

[zahid01]

Not again this no1 nonsense is not needed perform for the team and nation and be proud personal milestones are not important if you win.

 

[jnaveen1980]

yes we agree. Best spinner in the world. Above all these spinnres.

 

[Major]

yes we agree. Best spinner in the world. Above all these spinnres.

He didnt mean in a literal sense.

This is why im against these text based reports and prefer the actual videos. It was just his way of saying that nawaz is a good spinner.

The context here is that shoaib malik said some rubbish that why are part timers bowling and even akram said the same rubbish in his tweet.

What Hesson is saying is that the hattrick taker is actually amongst top spinners in the world and not some part timer

 

[Mamoon]

Bro u used to call nawaz the best spinnerin pakistan few years back

He might be the best Pakistan but he is nowhere near being the best in the world. This is an idiotic statement by a clown coach that will backfire very quickly.

 

[Rana]

If I heard him correctly, he said something along the lines of ‘recently Nawaz has been the best spinner in the world in terms of stats’.

Hesson knows he isn’t the best spinner in Pakistan let alone the world.

Typical Freshies who want to bring down a coach who showed Babar and Rizwan the mirror. Deal with it!

 

[Major]

He might be the best Pakistan but he is nowhere near being the best in the world. This is an idiotic statement by a clown coach that will backfire very quickly.

I think what he meant was amongst the best in the world.

We tend to take the comments too literally

 

[BouncerGuy]

It was more of a confidence-booster type statement than a literal one... We should relax on this... You don't wanna put too much burden on a guy who is doing well.

 

[Savak]

Still recall Aamir Sohails statement regarding Mohd Nawaz in the 2023 ODI WC ie he is not even a club level cricketer, tell me one ball he has bowled where he has gotten extravagant turn.

 

[cricketmania22]

Still recall Aamir Sohails statement regarding Mohd Nawaz in the 2023 ODI WC ie he is not even a club level cricketer, tell me one ball he has bowled where he has gotten extravagant turn.

As a left handed orthodox bowler he doesn’t need to get extravagant turn. There should be enough turn to beat the bat. Has to keep it simple like Jadeja. Angle the ball in and leave the batsman. Any hint of away spin have batsmen in trouble.

 

[Savak]

As a left handed orthodox bowler he doesn’t need to get extravagant turn. There should be enough turn to beat the bat. Has to keep it simple like Jadeja. Angle the ball in and leave the batsman. Any hint of away spin have batsmen in trouble.

Jadeja is a unique bowler with a very simple repeatable action, Jadeja also bowls at a fastest pace ie 60 mph plus where he gets good turn, gets drift and bowls stump to stump ruthlessly.

Nawaz will only get extravagant turn on a very helpful pitch but he doesn't vary his pace. When batters go after him, he bowls at the same pace, loop whereas he should be mixing his pace up ie surprising the batsman with a faster one or developing a arm ball herath style.

 

[jnaveen1980]

Jadeja is a unique bowler with a very simple repeatable action, Jadeja also bowls at a fastest pace ie 60 mph plus where he gets good turn, gets drift and bowls stump to stump ruthlessly.

Nawaz will only get extravagant turn on a very helpful pitch but he doesn't vary his pace. When batters go after him, he bowls at the same pace, loop whereas he should be mixing his pace up ie surprising the batsman with a faster one or developing a arm ball herath style.

He has this defensive line of following the leg of right hander. Ashwin immediately spotted it earned himself a wide. But taller guys with better reach will hit right through the line. Adil Rashid and Mitch Santner are probably two of the finest veterans when it comes to slowing up pace. Nawaz is not close to those two guys in that area.

 

[sweep_shot]

Best spinner in the world? How? He is not even the best spinner in Pakistan. Both Abrar and Sufiyan are better spinners than Nawaz.

 

[BouncerGuy]

He is not the biggest spinner of the ball but since his comeback, he has been the most important player in the team.. But calling him the best in the world is a bit too much..

 

[nish_mate]

So is he the best spinner in the world or not or else PCT coach has learnt in a short span on how to do hawaaiyan and funny certain posters are tying themselves in knots trying to explain their coach's statement.

For avoidance of doubt this is from OP and is copied like for like...

""I don't think you can expect this pitch to spin as much as it did in Sharjah. Even yesterday, the ball didn't spin a huge amount. Whenever you have wrist spinners, the surface doesn't matter as much. I guess the beauty of our side is that we have five spinners. We have Mohammad Nawaz, who's the best spin bowler in the world at the moment and has been ranked that way for the last six months since he's been back on the team. We've also had Abrar Ahmed and Sufiyan Muqeem. Saim Ayub is now in the top ten all-rounders in the world, which obviously comes from his improved performance with the ball. Salman Ali Agha has hardly bowled, and he's obviously the test spinner for Pakistan. We've got a lot of spin-bowling options if we think the conditions suit. If not, we have five seamers who allow us to either go for air speed, change of pace, or reverse swing, depending on what we think the surface will provide"

 

[Abid Z]

I don’t think these statements ought to be taken literally. The rankings and stats all can alter day to day, match situations , opposition and conditions.

What’s important is to see how Nawaz can not lose composure and bowl good tight lines consistently. Too often through lack of confidence or awareness he’s gone missing at crucial times but I’ve never seen him showboating or getting carried away. Keep it simple and remain humble the results will come.

 

[charlie007]

Come on guys, Hesson is just trying to give his players confidence. There’s no need to get triggered. If that helps the players become more confident and perform better then what’s wrong in that? Almost all parents think their kid is the best in the world- it’s not to be taken literally.

 

[MenInG]

This best spinner statement will come back to haunt us.

 

[cricketjoshila]

Soon to be coaching in Pakistan mike?

 

[Asif321]

No wonder he got humiliated all around during Babar era . Thats his level .

 

[Caved12]

So basically, our clownish puppet of a coach, who knows nothing about cricket, thinks Nawaz is the best in the business just because he played a few matches against associate and lower ranked teams and performed and suddenly he’s the best. Premature statements like this only let the player rest on his early performances before facing the big teams.

 

[sweep_shot]

Hesson seems like a very amateur coach. Not the first time he has said something absurd.

 

[jnaveen1980]

I think Abrar is a good defensive bowler on these pitches. Probably won't work outside these pitches. Saim is serviceable on these pitches. Since i have not seen Nawaz much since 2022 world cup at the MCG i assumed he has actually improved. He is exactly the same bowler i saw 3 years back. Round arm dart into right handers pad and occasionally turns it.

 

[Mamoon]

An absolutely rubbish coach with the personality of a cardboard.

 

[Sachin fan]

Come on guys, Hesson is just trying to give his players confidence. There’s no need to get triggered. If that helps the players become more confident and perform better then what’s wrong in that? Almost all parents think their kid is the best in the world- it’s not to be taken literally.

Question is, does LYING really give players confidence? The players know its a lie.

Babar claimed Naseem was better than Bumrah before the T20 world cup and we all saw what happened.

Such lies by Pak players and captain and Pak management and supporters have always backfired. Afridi, Rauf all were hyped as best and they fell off afterwards

Can you give me a single example when such false praise gave confidence to any Pak player and they did better afterwards? One single example?

 

[prash88]

An absolutely rubbish coach with the personality of a cardboard.

RCB didn't win anything for long for a reason....

 

[cricketjoshila]

Mike hesson acting like mickey arthur

 

[hks222]

I hope this cuckoo coach is sacked

 

[sweep_shot]

Mike hesson acting like mickey arthur

Comparing a world class coach like Mickey Arthur to an amateur like Mike Hesson?

Arthur coached Grame Smith's South Africa. He also oversaw Pakistan's CT 2017 win. Arthur is a successful coach. Hesson is not.

 

[Savak]

I think Abrar is a good defensive bowler on these pitches. Probably won't work outside these pitches. Saim is serviceable on these pitches. Since i have not seen Nawaz much since 2022 world cup at the MCG i assumed he has actually improved. He is exactly the same bowler i saw 3 years back. Round arm dart into right handers pad and occasionally turns it.

Nawaz bowls with the same trajectory, loop, line, left arm spin ball after ball even when it is clear batsmen are going after him. In contrast Axar was varying his pace, bowling the occasional arm ball and hence he was more difficult to line up. Nawaz lacks bowling iq and if you have been playing for 10 years and if you still have not developed bowling intelligence then there is no hope going forward.

 

[Mamoon]

I hope this cuckoo coach is sacked

I thought I wasn’t gonna see a worse foreign coach than Mickey but I was so wrong.

 

[jnaveen1980]

Nawaz bowls with the same trajectory, loop, line, left arm spin ball after ball even when it is clear batsmen are going after him. In contrast Axar was varying his pace, bowling the occasional arm ball and hence he was more difficult to line up. Nawaz lacks bowling iq and if you have been playing for 10 years and if you still have not developed bowling intelligence then there is no hope going forward.

Hesson's hope is if he doesn't click with ball he will click with bat and vice versa. Probably he over-estimated his improvement after his outings against smaller teams.

 

[ads101]

I think playing an extra pace allrounder in Faheem isn’t working, he has to go. I think we need 3 genuine pacers in the side. Shaheen, Haris and Abbas Afridi for me was a fine working trio.

Nawaz should take the allrounder slot and one of Abrar or Sufiyan should play. I’d go with Abrar for now. We also have Saim as a part time spinner and Agha can even bowl a bit. We don’t need to play two specialist spinners plus Nawaz.

If Nawaz drops off in performance, we might have to explore playing both Abrar and Sufiyan together, forgoing the allrounder spot and dropping Nawaz.

 

[Deewana Mastana]

Mohammad Nawaz at most is a dependable utility all- rounder who contributes to the team, but we must differentiate between being a dependable player and being the best in the world. He plays an important role as a supporting spinner and all-rounder, but when we look at current players in terms of wickets, economy, and match impact, names like Rashid Khan, Kuldeep Yadav, and Wanindu Hasaranga consistently stand out. Based on performance and consistency, Nawaz is not quite at that elite level yet.