Sarfaraz distances Pakistan team from PCB threat over Imran Khan interview
The second Test at Lord’s briefly found itself overshadowed by politics, power and a television interview that almost stopped the cricket. Out in the middle, though, Sarfaraz Ahmed insists his players knew nothing about it.
During the lunch interval on day one, Sky Sports aired an interview with Suleiman and Kasim Khan, the sons of former Pakistan captain and prime minister Imran Khan, who has been in prison for the past three years. Behind the scenes, the stakes were suddenly raised.
It is understood the Pakistan Cricket Board warned the England and Wales Cricket Board that the Test – and the remainder of the three-match tour – could be cancelled if the interview went to air. The broadcast went ahead in edited form. The players walked back out after lunch. The game carried on.
According to Pakistan’s head coach, that was all his side were focused on.
“I don't know anything. I'm just focusing on the match,” Sarfaraz said at the close of the second day’s play when asked about the PCB’s stance.
“You're talking about the interview? We don't know about the interview.”
Pressed on whether there was ever a realistic chance his players would refuse to return for the afternoon session on day one, the former Pakistan wicketkeeper brushed the idea aside.
“All are OK. We were having lunch at that time,” he replied, underlining the squad’s distance from the off-field storm.
The controversy touched a figure who still looms large over Pakistan cricket. Imran Khan, now 73, carved out a 21-year international career and captained Pakistan to their famous World Cup triumph in 1992, a victory that helped define a sporting generation.
He later turned to politics and served as Pakistan’s prime minister from 2018 to 2022. Since 2023, he has been in jail on corruption charges, which he denies.
His sons’ appearance on a cricket broadcast at Lord’s – the ground where Imran lifted the World Cup – dragged that wider story into the middle of an England–Pakistan Test. The PCB’s hardline response showed how sensitive his name remains.
On the field, though, Sarfaraz is adamant: his dressing room stayed locked on the cricket, even as the noise around them threatened to drown it out.
