PCB Complains to Sky Sports Over Imran Khan Interview

The Pakistan Cricket Board has lodged a formal complaint with Sky Sports after the broadcaster aired an interview with Imran Khan’s sons during coverage of the second Test at Lord’s, dragging the politics of Pakistan’s most divisive figure straight into the heart of a marquee cricket fixture.

The interview with Kasim and Sulaiman Khan was shown on the first day’s play and quickly moved beyond cricket. Khan’s children used the platform to voice alarm over the Pakistan government’s treatment of their father, the former prime minister and World Cup-winning captain, who has been held in solitary confinement for the past three years.

Their words touched a raw nerve. Khan’s legal team has already described his conditions as “slow-motion murder”, while his sister has alleged he has been tortured in prison. The 73-year-old was briefly moved to a hospital last week after a supreme court ruling granted temporary release for treatment, only to be sent back to jail soon after.

The exact wording of the PCB’s complaint has not been made public. What is clear is the central objection: Sky, as the host broadcaster, handed airtime to family members fiercely critical of the sitting government in Islamabad.

Sky has confirmed it has received the complaint but, when approached by the Guardian, declined to elaborate. The England and Wales Cricket Board has also been informed of the PCB’s concerns and has likewise chosen not to comment.

Khan’s situation has been building into a wider cricketing cause. Many of the game’s greats have already broken ranks from the usual diplomatic silence to highlight his plight. Two joint letters have been issued this year, calling for humane treatment and proper medical care for the man who lifted the 1992 World Cup.

The group behind those letters is heavyweight. It includes six former England captains, former India captain Kapil Dev and former Australian batters Adam Gilchrist and Greg Chappell. Their latest intervention, published this week, urges “a full and independent assessment of his health”, with particular concern over his right eye.

Khan’s lawyers say he has lost 85% of the vision in that eye, blaming the deterioration squarely on his prison conditions.

One detail stands out in a sport that so often rallies around its own: no Pakistani cricketers have put their name to the letters.