Lord's Test: Politics and Cricket Collide as Imran Khan's Sons Speak Out
At Lord’s, on a day that should have belonged solely to bat and ball, the second Test between England and Pakistan briefly found itself on the brink of something far more dramatic.
During lunch on day one, as players drifted off the field and spectators queued for coffee and conversation, Sky Sports prepared to air an interview that would jolt the calm. Suleiman and Kasim Khan, sons of former Pakistan captain and prime minister Imran Khan, spoke to Michael Atherton about their father’s treatment in prison and their concerns over his security, while also criticising the UK government’s response.
Behind the scenes, that conversation had already lit a fuse.
It is understood the Pakistan Cricket Board raised the prospect of cancelling not just the Lord’s Test, but the remainder of the three-match tour, if the interview went to air. The stakes were extraordinary: one broadcast segment set against an entire international series.
Sky pressed ahead and showed a version of the interview. The cameras returned to the middle. The players did too.
Out in the middle, Pakistan’s head coach Sarfaraz Ahmed insisted he and his squad were oblivious to the turmoil swirling above them.
"I don't know anything. I'm just focusing on the match," he said at the close of the second day’s play, when asked about the interview and the PCB’s reported threat.
"You're talking about the interview? We don't know about the interview."
Pressed on whether there had been any doubt over Pakistan returning after lunch on day one, the former wicketkeeper kept it simple: "All are OK. We were having lunch at that time."
While Sarfaraz spoke of runs and sessions, the story beyond the boundary was steeped in politics and history.
Imran Khan, 73, is not just another former captain. He is the man who lifted the World Cup for Pakistan in 1992, the all-rounder who defined an era over a 21-year international career, and later the prime minister who led the country from 2018 to 2022. Since 2023 he has been in jail on corruption charges, which he denies, a situation that has polarised opinion at home and drawn concern abroad.
In the Atherton interview, Suleiman and Kasim voiced fears over their father’s treatment and security. They also took aim at the UK government’s stance. Before the segment was shown, Sky received a complaint about the plan to broadcast it, heightening the tension around an already sensitive subject.
The England and Wales Cricket Board did not treat that lightly. In the face of a potential diplomatic and sporting flashpoint, the ECB sought guidance from the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office. With government advice in hand, the broadcast went ahead, though not without compromise: in Pakistan, public broadcaster PTV, which is carrying the series using Sky’s pictures, chose not to air the interview.
On the field, the match moved on. By the end of the second day, England had tightened their grip, 81-3 in their second innings and 261 runs ahead. In the stands and commentary boxes, the focus slowly swung back to the cricket. It is understood Sky received no further complaints on Friday in relation to the interview.
Yet the episode leaves a lingering echo, especially given the broader relationship between these two boards and the political weight behind the PCB. Its chairman, Mohsin Naqvi, also serves as Pakistan’s interior minister, a dual role that underlines how closely cricket and state power can sit in Pakistan.
This is not the first time a Test between these sides has teetered on the edge of abandonment. The Oval in 2006 remains a stark reference point, when Pakistan were accused of ball tampering, refused to take the field after tea on the fourth day, and were adjudged to have forfeited the match – the only forfeiture in Test history.
That history hovered in the background as Lord’s navigated its own moment of crisis. This time, the players did walk back out.
Looking ahead, the relationship will be tested again soon enough. In October, England are due to tour Pakistan for a one-day tri-series with the hosts and Sri Lanka, their fourth separate visit in four years after a 17-year hiatus caused by security concerns.
For now, the Lord’s Test rolls on, the scoreboard ticking, the noise around it momentarily subdued. But with politics, broadcasting power and cricket’s fragile diplomacy colliding so publicly, how many more times can a series be asked to survive a storm like this?
