Pakistan Test captain Babar Azam has denied claims that his team considered boycotting the Lord’s Test after broadcaster Sky Sports aired an interview featuring Imran Khan’s sons talking to Michael Atherton.
Multiple reporters claimed the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) was unhappy after Sky went ahead with the interview during the lunch break on Day 1, despite being asked not to. PCB reportedly even considered keeping the team off the field for the second session before England’s board talked them out of it.
Speaking to the reporters after Pakistan’s 194-run defeat at Lord’s, Babar said he had no knowledge of such a plan. “No, no. I have not heard about that t
hing,” he said. Pressed further on the matter, he added, “No, I have not heard anything about that.”
Pakistan head coach Sarfaraz Ahmed faced similar questions about whether the players had watched the interview with Imran’s sons Kasim and Suleman. He told reporters the team was having lunch at the time and missed it entirely. “No, we don’t know anything about it, we were having lunch,” Sarfaraz said when asked about reports that the PCB had threatened to keep the team off the field if Sky aired the segment.
The controversy began when the PCB filed a complaint over the interview, conducted by former England captain and current Sky Sports broadcaster Mike Atherton. In it, Imran’s sons discussed their father’s health, saying that they feared for his life during his three years in prison.
PCB contacted Sky Sports before lunch to object, warning that Pakistan’s players would not return for the second session if the interview went on air. Sky held the segment back during the discussions but eventually broadcast the full 18-minute clip. By the time it finished, Pakistan’s players were already walking back out to resume play.
Sky Sports later aired the Pakistan government’s response to the claims made by Imran’s sons during its coverage of the Test.
The episode came in the same week that a group of 22 former international cricket captains wrote a second letter to Prime Minister (PM) Shehbaz Sharif, renewing their appeal for Khan to receive proper medical treatment.
The signatories included Sunil Gavaskar, Kapil Dev, Greg Chappell and Ian Chappell. It marked the second such letter sent to the prime minister within six months, following an earlier appeal in February signed by 14 former captains.
England’s 194-run win at Lord’s gave the hosts an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-match series with one Test remaining.
