Hasan Nawaz [Source: AFP]Hasan Nawaz rained down a thunderous 51-ball 96 against Team India in the final of the 2026 Asian Games in Japan this past weekend. Despite unleashing one of his career-best knocks, the lack of assistance from others prompted the Pakistan cricket team to fall 19 runs short of a gold medal. Nonetheless, Hasan’s counterattacking innings did much for his confidence, as admitted by the cricketer himself during a recent interview. The 24-year-old also described India as the number one team in the world.Hasan Nawaz praises India, says his knock helped him gain confidenceWhile speaking with the media upon returning to Pakistan from the 2026 Asian Games, Hasan Nawaz praised Team India and described them as the obvious number one team in the world at the moment.The cricketer also claimed that his innings against the Indian bowlers in the final helped him gain a “lot of confidence”. Nawaz added that Pakistan lost the 2026 Asian Games gold medal due to “small mistakes”.ALSO READFull List Of Pakistan Squad Changes For Sri Lanka Series vs T20 World Cup 2026He said, “India is the No. 1 team, everyone knows that. I gained a lot of confidence after the knock. I wanted to win a gold medal for my country, but due to small mistakes, we lost.”Abu Bakar Tarar @abubakartarar_ INDIA is No 1 Team, I got Confidence from that knock Hassan Nawaz Media Talk on his comeback Watch here ⬇️ Impact of Hasan Nawaz’s fighting knock vs IndiaThe Pakistan cricket team may have missed out on the Asian Games 2026 gold medal in Japan, but Hasan Nawaz undoubtedly took significant strides forward in his career with his impressive performance against India.For starters, the explosive middle-order batter has been named in Pakistan's squad for their upcoming T20I series against Sri Lanka at home this month. The two matches he played during the 2026 Asian Games last week marked his return to Pakistan’s T20I playing XI after nearly a year.Moreover, Nawaz also jumped 62 paces to be ranked 48th on the ICC T20I rankings for men’s batters. He is currently joined by former Pakistan T20I captain and seasoned all-rounder Salman Ali Agha on the updated ICC charts.As of now, it remains to be seen if Hasan Nawaz can re-create his Asian Games 2026 heroics for the Pakistan team in their upcoming series against Sri Lanka.ALSO READAjinkya Rahane Picks Kuldeep Yadav Over Varun Chakaravarthy For 2027 World Cup
