PCB Threatens Walk-Off Over Atherton’s Interview With Imran Khan’s Sons

A cricket broadcast turned into a diplomatic flashpoint during the second Test between England and Pakistan at Lord’s, after the Pakistan Cricket Board lodged a formal complaint against Sky Sports over an interview with Imran Khan’s sons that aired during the lunch break on the opening day.

The segment, conducted by former England captain Michael Atherton, featured Sulaiman and Qasim Khan speaking candidly about their father’s deteriorating condition in prison. The former prime minister’s children from his marriage to Jemima Goldsmith accused Pakistani authorities of “trying to kill” their imprisoned father in the pre-recorded segment. According to reports, the brothers revealed their father has lost 80 per cent of his vision in one eye and spends more than 23 hours daily confined to a small cell without adequate air conditioning. One of the sons also described their father’s stress levels during a recent visit, noting the toll it has taken on someone usually seen as composed and steady.

What made the episode particularly dramatic was the PCB’s behind-the-scenes response. Cricinfo reported that the PCB considered the option of Pakistan not taking the field after the break in protest, and is understood to have contacted Sky ahead of the lunch break to threaten that their players would not return to the field after lunch if it aired. Faced with this pressure, Sky delayed the interview, before eventually running the full 18-minute clip. By the time the segment concluded, Pakistan’s players were preparing to return to the field to resume the second session, meaning the threatened boycott never actually materialized and play continued as scheduled.

Notably, the interview was recorded well before it aired. Atherton conducted the conversation with Imran’s sons on Wednesday morning in the Writers’ Room at Lord’s, with Sky running a teaser in the build-up to the Test. Interestingly, the broadcast reach of the interview was uneven across markets — in Pakistan, PTV, which was broadcasting the series domestically, did not air the interview at all, suggesting sensitivity around the topic extended beyond the cricket board itself.

The PCB’s objection appears rooted in the political undertones of the interview rather than any cricketing grievance. Reports indicated the PCB did not like that the official broadcaster of the Test series aired an interview that was heavily critical of the existing Pakistan government. Adding another layer to the controversy, PCB chairman Mohsin Naqvi also serves as Pakistan’s Interior Minister, placing him at the heart of both the cricketing and political dimensions of the row, a dual role that blurred the line between sporting administration and government interest in the matter.

The interview itself was set against a backdrop of mounting international concern for Imran Khan’s welfare. His health has been the focus of growing scrutiny over recent weeks, with his sons stepping up efforts to secure appropriate health care after Pakistan’s Supreme Court ordered him admitted to a hospital in Islamabad, only for him to be taken to a state-run facility instead and returned to prison shortly after a check-up. This context had already drawn the attention of the wider cricketing fraternity. Just the previous week, 21 former captains, including Atherton himself, had written to Pakistan’s prime minister urging that Imran receive proper medical care in custody, a letter that followed an earlier appeal signed by more than a dozen former captains months prior.

Beyond the immediate drama at Lord’s, the episode highlights the increasingly tangled relationship between sport, media, and politics when it comes to Pakistan cricket. Broadcasters operate under commercial and editorial independence, while cricket boards remain acutely sensitive to how political narratives play out on a global stage during marquee fixtures. Whether or not the ECB or Sky issue any further statements, the incident is likely to be remembered as one of the more unusual sidebars of an England-Pakistan Test series — one where the biggest talking point came not from bat or ball, but from a broadcast booth.