Pakistan lost the second Test at Lord’s on Sunday to concede the series with one game still to go. The Test match was highly controversial and eventful. Controversial because Sky decided to air Imran Khan’s sons’ interview. Then it was a rain-affected contest. Then Imam-ul-Haq didn’t bat in either of the innings as Pakistan lost by 194 runs. Why? He picked up a calf injury on the opening day.
Later, it turned out it wasn’t a very serious one. Considering Pakistan were trailing in the game right from the outset at a pace-friendly pitch, he could have summoned up the courage to come out and bat and contribute whatever he could. Cricket history is replete with instances where players, despite being severely injured, come out and do what they can for their teams.
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Former England pacer Stuart Broad took Imam to task after the left-hander batsman did a little knocking, seemingly during one of the breaks on day four, with the calf concerned all taped up. He was limping too. When Broad, doing commentary work for Sky Sports, saw this, he lost all patience. “That’s all for show. He has got a bit of stick from the media and maybe his teammates. Whatever. You can do that inside the indoor school without anyone seeing, you don’t have to come wearing shorts and tape and hobble around like that. I am not impressed with that. Sorry,” he said on Sky Sports.
Former Australia opener David Warner is a little late to the whole thing, as suggests his post on Monday. He shared a video post on X, showing Imam doing the knocking and commented: “Did he come out and bat after all this??”
By the tone of the comment, it appears he doesn’t exactly know what happened: whether or not Imam came out to bat. “All this” suggests he wasn’t happy with what he saw. Safe to say, he didn’t like it either.
Now, the Pakistani social media is reporting that Imam won’t feature in the third and final Test scheduled for September 9 at Edgbaston. He is being sent back. Muhammad Rizwan is another player who is going back after a very poor batting show in both Tests. A couple of his dismissals were not in line with Test cricket. In the last four Tests, he has not scored a fifty. However, there is no official word on the imminent departure of Imam and Rizwan.