London: A bizarre report has emerged from England, where the hosts are engaged in a Test series with Pakistan. On Day 1 of the second Test at Lord’s, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) reportedly asked the hosts’ broadcaster Sky Sports not to air the interview with former captain Imran Khan’s sons during the lunch break. Pakistan reportedly threatened a walkout too if their demands were met. However, Sky Sports went ahead with the scheduled broadcast and aired the interview. A fuming PCB reportedly asked its players to not take the field, prompting the England board to intervene. The 18-minute interview was done by former England cricketer Michael Atherton — one of the 21 captains to sign the letter to Pakistan Prime Minister – over the worsening health of Imran Khan, who has been behind bars since August 2023.
Multiple media outlets, including Cricinfo and The Guardian, claimed that the PCB wasn’t happy to see Imran Khan’s sons being in the spotlight during the Test. The board even said that Babar Azam’s men wouldn’t take the field if the interview was shown on TV. Sky Sports continued with the broadcast despite the threats. But Pakistan still took the field in the post-lunch session, thanks to ECB’s timely intervention.
A total of two letters have been sent by cricket captains all across the world to the Pakistan Prime Minister over Imran Khan’s situation in jail. The first of these letters was drafted in February but it failed to trigger the desired change. The second was sent earlier this week, when Imran was returned to the Adiala jail after a brief medical check-up.
As for the interview, Imran’s sons Suleiman and Kasim Khan expressed how concerning their father’s situation is in prison. Even during the interview, the two brothers claimed that there’s a serious threat to their father’s life in prison.
“It is not very clear what they are doing, just blatantly trying to kill him in there. Keep him in as long as possible and silence him,” Kasim said in the interview.
Imran, a former Prime Minister who served Pakistan from 2018 to 2022, has been behind bars over multiple cases since his removal from office. The cases include corruption convictions carrying sentences of 10, 14 and 17 years.
Before the 2024 elections, Imran was given a seven-year sentence in a case regarding the timing of his marriage to his current wife following her divorce.
