PCB Protests Sky Sports Interview with Imran Khan’s Sons
The Pakistan Cricket Board has launched a fierce protest against Sky Sports after the broadcaster aired an emotional interview with Imran Khan’s sons during the lunch interval of the second Test at Lord’s – a move that briefly threatened to spill over into open confrontation on the field.
According to ESPNcricinfo, PCB officials were so angered by the decision that they considered instructing Pakistan’s players not to return after lunch in protest, an extraordinary step that would have plunged the Test into chaos at the home of cricket.
PCB fury over lunch‑time broadcast
The flashpoint came during the interval on day one. Sky had lined up an 18‑minute interview, conducted by Michael Atherton in the Writers’ Room at Lord’s, with Imran Khan’s sons, Suleiman and Kasim. In it, they spoke at length about their father’s health, safety and treatment in prison.
Imran, Pakistan’s 1992 World Cup‑winning captain and former Prime Minister, has been behind bars for nearly three years. His family has repeatedly voiced alarm over his medical care. The interview was always going to be politically charged.
The PCB is understood to have contacted Sky before the lunch break, objecting strongly to the segment being aired during a Pakistan Test. Officials warned that players could refuse to take the field for the post‑lunch session if the interview went ahead.
Under pressure, Sky initially held the piece back. The tension did not.
Eventually, the broadcaster decided to run the interview. By the time the programme finished, Pakistan’s players were already preparing to walk out for the afternoon session, scheduled for 2:40pm local time. The threatened boycott did not materialise, but the message from the PCB had been delivered in no uncertain terms.
While Sky pushed the interview in the UK, even releasing a teaser ahead of the Test, Pakistan’s domestic broadcaster PTV chose not to show it, underlining how politically sensitive the issue has become back home.
Imran Khan’s health back in the spotlight
Away from the boundary rope, concern over Imran Khan’s condition has sharpened in recent weeks. His sons have gone public with demands that he receive proper medical care, while his sisters have also challenged the treatment he is getting in custody.
Last week, Pakistan’s Supreme Court ordered that Imran be moved to Islamabad’s Shifa Hospital for medical treatment. That ruling never fully materialised in practice. Instead, he was taken to the state-run Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS), given a check-up and then returned to prison.
His family has accused the authorities of failing to follow the Supreme Court’s directive and is pushing for him to be examined by his personal physician. The lunch‑time interview at Lord’s, beamed into homes during a marquee Test, dragged that domestic row into a global cricket broadcast.
Former captains close ranks
The fallout has not been confined to Pakistan’s political arena. The controversy has reignited an international appeal from some of the game’s most respected figures.
Twenty-two former international captains have written to Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, urging the government to guarantee appropriate medical care for Imran Khan. The list reads like a roll call of modern cricket history: Michael Atherton, Allan Border, Michael Brearley, Greg Chappell, Ian Chappell, Belinda Clark, Alastair Cook, Michael Gatting, Sunil Gavaskar, Kapil Dev, Adam Gilchrist, David Gower, Nasser Hussain, Clive Lloyd, Arjuna Ranatunga, Andrew Strauss, Steve Waugh and John Wright among them.
Their letter follows an earlier appeal in February, signed by 14 former captains. According to ESPNcricinfo, that first approach drew no response from the Pakistan government. The silence has only hardened the resolve of those now speaking out again.
Pakistan take charge on the field
While the politics swirled, Pakistan’s cricketers delivered a performance of clarity and control with the ball on day one.
After choosing to bowl first at Lord’s, they squeezed England to 248 for nine by stumps. Mohammed Abbas led the assault, picking up four wickets and repeatedly asking questions on a surface offering just enough movement. Another three‑wicket haul from the supporting cast kept England pinned down, unable to build the kind of imposing total they have come to expect at home.
England’s innings never quite collapsed, but it never truly flowed either. Jamie Smith’s 61 and Jordan Cox’s 55 provided resistance and respectability, each half-century arriving under pressure as wickets fell around them. Their partnership stopped Pakistan from completely running away with the day.
Even so, with England tottering on the brink of being bowled out, Pakistan walked off with the scoreboard – and the initiative – firmly in their favour.
So Lord’s, so often the stage for cricket’s most pristine traditions, found itself hosting a very modern collision: a governing board at odds with a broadcaster, a jailed former captain at the centre of a global appeal, and a Pakistan side quietly tightening its grip on a Test match while a storm raged just beyond the boundary rope.
