Pakistan coach Sarfaraz Ahmed denied any knowledge of PCB’s threat to boycott the Lord’s Test over Sky Sports’ interview with Imran Khan’s sons.
He said his team was having lunch and focusing only on the match.
What Sarfaraz said
Speaking after Day 2, Sarfaraz said, “I don’t know anything. I’m just focusing on the match. Are you talking about the interview? We don’t know about the interview.”On being asked if players refused to come out after lunch on Day 1, he said, “All are OK. We were having lunch at that time.” The second Test between Pakistan and England went on after players returned to the field.
Why PCB objected
Day 1 of the Lord’s Test marked the beginning of the conflict. During the lunch break, Sulaiman and Kasim Khan, the sons of Imran Khan, were interviewed by Sky Sports. The interview was done by former England captain Michael Atherton. In the interview, Imran’s sons spoke about their father’s health, security and jail treatment. Authorities are “blatantly trying to kill him,” they said.
A formal complaint was filed with Sky Sports by the PCB, whose chairman, Mohsin Naqvi, is also Pakistan’s interior minister. According to reports, the PCB informed the ECB that if the interview was broadcast, Pakistan might withdraw from the Test and the remainder of the England tour. Sky Sports broadcast it despite a minor delay. Instead of airing the interview, PTV, which is airing the tour in Pakistan, showed advertising.
Background
One of Pakistan’s best cricket players, Imran Khan, guided the nation to its lone ODI World Cup victory in 1992. Later on, he went into politics, holding the position of prime minister from 2018 to 2022. He has been imprisoned since 2023 on allegations of corruption, which he disputes.
According to reports earlier this week, 22 former international captains wrote to Shehbaz Sharif, the prime minister of Pakistan, requesting a thorough and impartial assessment of Imran’s health, including concerns of vision loss in his right eye.