Pakistan Team With King Charles - (Source: AFP)
Things are not well within Pakistan cricket. The Babar Azam-led side has already lost the three-match Test series with a game left. Imam-ul-Haq’s controversy has further damaged the reputation of Pakistan Cricket Board.
For the unversed, it all started during the Lord’s Test, where Imam suffered a grade-one calf injury and refused to bat citing extreme pain. It led to widespread criticism, and cricket experts from Pakistan accused Imam of faking an injury to avoid batting in English conditions.
Imam’s injury controversy and the criticism surrounding it led to an investigation by the PCB. The apex cricket board of Pakistan took a drastic step by pulling 7 players - Mohammad Rizwan, Imam-ul-Haq, Salman Agha, Ali Usman, Aamer Jamal, Awais Zafar, and Khurram Shahzad out of the squad.
PCB Orders Excluded Stars To Rejoin Squad For Meeting With King Charles
The 3rd Test starts on September 9, and the newly-added stars are yet to reach England for the final Test. Meanwhile, on Wednesday, September 2, the entire Pakistan squad met King Charles III at Clarence House in London.
Ahead of the prestigious meeting, PCB head Mohsin Naqvi issued an order to the seven excluded stars to join the team for dinner with Charles. Naqvi feared a low turnout would embarrass the country’s cricket board.
Interestingly, Imam-ul-Haq and Mohammad Rizwan have already flown back to Pakistan. Further, four of the five players expressed their disinterest but obeyed PCB’s instruction by joining the team for the dinner with King Charles.
Now, a report from The Telegraph UK mentioned that one of the seven players released from squad refused to obey PCB’s instructions and didn’t show up for the dinner.
Salman Ali Agha Absent From Team Dinner
The report didn’t reveal the identity of the player, but as mentioned above, two players left for Pakistan, four players attended the event, which only points fingers at Pakistan's T20I captain, Salman Ali Agha to be the one who didn’t travel for the team dinner.
Even in the photos that went viral on social media, where Babar Azam presented a signed bat to the King, Salman Agha was nowhere to be seen. The reason behind the absence is unknown, but it is fair to associate the disobedience with the disrespect from PCB towards the T20I captain.
Also Read: Babar Azam Faces Fresh Fitness Concern Ahead Pakistan Vs England 3rd Test
Salman Ali Agha has had an interesting series so far. He was named captain in the 1st Test due to Babar Azam’s injury. However, the T20I captain was left out of the playing XI as soon as Babar Azam rejoined the playing XI to lead Pakistan.
Following Pakistan’s defeat in the 2nd Test and the Imam-ul-Haq controversy, fans were shocked to see Salman Ali Agha’s name in the list of players told to return to Pakistan. The disrespect could be the reason why Agha refused to join the team for dinner with King Charles.
Rift Between Salman Ali Agha And Mohsin Naqvi?
It is quite natural that Agha’s action might have repercussions. The act might not go well with Mohsin Naqvi, and the first thought that comes to mind is whether it will cost Salman Agha his T20I captaincy.
However, recently Mohsin Naqvi defended Salman Ali Agha, hinting that there is no rift between the two parties.
"Agha is such a brilliant player, and yet he is not clicking at the moment for certain reasons. We are not telling him, 'We asked you to go and rest’; we spoke to him and did everything. So, the objective is not to remove someone from the team. The objective is that if a player is not clicking, then we should make a change," Mohsin Naqvi remarked.
Despite the backing, Salman Ali Agha's Pakistan future is at risk, because he does not to face a similar treatment as Fakhar Zaman, who was left out of the team for a while after he criticised PCB.
Also Read: Aaqib Javed Major Controversies: From Imam-ul-Haq Drama To Match-Fixing Allegations
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