England Clinches Series with Controversial Win at Lord’s
England’s series-clinching win at Lord’s arrived with a crackle of controversy in the background, but Babar Azam insists he knew nothing of it.
Speaking to BBC Test Match Special after the Lord’s Test, the Pakistan captain was asked whether he had heard of any threat to the continuation of the match. His response was blunt and immediate.
“No, no, no. I haven't heard that thing,” Babar said. Pressed again on whether he was aware of such conversations at all, he cut it short: “No.”
The interview, conducted by former England captain Michael Atherton, had already caused a stir. It went to air during the lunch interval on the opening day, an 18‑minute segment dropped right into the middle of a high-profile Test at the home of cricket. Pakistan still walked back out on time. The game rolled on without delay.
Babar’s stance echoes that of head coach Sarfaraz Ahmed, who has already stated that neither he nor his players had been told of any reported threat to the match going ahead. Inside the dressing room, the message is consistent: the team were playing cricket, not politics.
That distinction has become increasingly sensitive. Under Mohsin Naqvi, the PCB has tightened its grip on what players say on tour, warning them off political comment during the UK trip after the turbulence around Imran Khan and his treatment back home. The board’s line is clear; the players’ focus, at least publicly, must stay on the field.
The flashpoint at Lord’s came from Atherton’s interview itself. The conversation centred on concerns raised by Imran Khan’s sons over their father’s health, treatment and conditions in prison. The PCB had reportedly objected to the broadcast, a move that injected tension into what should have been a straightforward opening day of a marquee Test.
Once the ball was back in play, though, England shut out the noise and shut down Pakistan.
Defending 389, England’s attack ripped through the chase and sealed a 194‑run victory. Pakistan folded for 194, their resistance carried almost entirely by Saud Shakeel, who fell agonisingly short of a hundred, dismissed three runs shy of a landmark that would have changed the shape of the scorecard, if not the result.
England’s job was eased by the loss of Imam-ul-Haq. The opener, injured with a calf problem on the first day, never returned to the crease, leaving a hole at the top of Pakistan’s order that they never truly patched. Against a disciplined home attack and a swelling Lord’s crowd sensing a series win, that absence loomed large.
When the final wicket fell, England had more than just a Test in their pocket. The margin at Lord’s delivered a 2-0 lead and with it the series, their first Test series victory since December 2024. A long wait snapped, and in emphatic fashion.
The caravan now rolls on to Edgbaston, Birmingham, where the final Test starts on September 9. England arrive with the job done and momentum surging. Pakistan arrive with questions swirling off the field and a series already gone.
What they salvage from that last match will say plenty about where this team – and this tour – truly stand.
