Pakistan Cricket Board's (PCB) director of high performance and selector Aaqib Javed has lashed out at opener Imam-ul-Haq for not going out to bat in both innings of Lord's Test due to a calf muscle injury. Aaqib has promised an inquiry into the matter. While Imam has been accused of faking an injury, Javed distanced himself from the controversy categorically. But, he wonders why he did not bat while players have braved fractures to bat for the team before.
“The Imam injury is a big question mark, and a deep disappointment,” Aaqib said in an interview with Pakistan's Geo News.
“Players in the past used to get injuries, but they used to put on casts and still tried. We'll take action against this. How is it possible that a pulled muscle ruled you out of batting in both innings? He should have tried and fought. He'll have to face an inquiry; I can't say he faked it, but a muscle pull like that cannot stop you from batting altogether.”
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Former cricketers criticised Imam for not batting. England’s legendary pacer Stuart Broad went on to accuse Imam for putting on a show before day’s play after not batting in the first innings. Similarly, former Australian opener David Warner was left baffled by Imam’s decision to not play through the pain while his team was in deep trouble in both innings.
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All that went down after Pakistan’s Lord’s defeat
Pakistan’s 194-run defeat at Lord’s led to seven players getting released from the squad including Imam, Mohammad Rizwan and vice-captain Salman Agha. Saim Ayub, Abdullah Fazal and five uncapped players were called up overnight to join the squad for the third Test which will begin on September 9.
In addition, head coach Sarfaraz Ahmed and bowling coach Umar Gul were sacked. An SOS call was made to white-ball head coach Mike Hesson and bowling coach Ashley Noffke to join the Babar Azam-led side at Edgbaston, Birmingham. Also, PCB sent a show cause notice to selectors for picking Imam and Rizwan in the team. Reacting to the messy state of affairs, one of the four selectors, Misbah-ul-Haq stepped down from the role.