Pakistan threatened walk-off over Sky Sports interview with Imran Khan’s sons

The PCB contacted Sky ahead of the break, warning that Pakistan’s cricketers would not resume play if the piece went to air. Sky initially held back the segment before ultimately broadcasting the 18-minute interview.

Notably, PCB chairman Mohsin Naqvi also serves as Pakistan’s Interior Minister, placing him at the heart of both the cricketing and political dimensions of the row.

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Pakistan’s players were already warming up on the outfield as the interview concluded, and the afternoon session proceeded without disruption.

Khan, 73, has been imprisoned for three years following his removal from office. His sons painted a harrowing picture of his deterioration behind bars.

“It is not very clear what they are doing, just blatantly trying to kill him in there. Keep him in as long as possible, and silence him,” Kasim told Atherton.

The brothers revealed their father has lost 80 per cent of his vision in one eye and spends more than 23 hours daily confined to a small cell without adequate air conditioning.

Sulaiman said Khan’s blood pressure had been climbing “due to the stress of isolation and solitary confinement.”

Kasim described seeing his father wearing an eye patch and appearing “visibly stressed” — a stark contrast to the man he remembered as unshakeable, even at gunpoint.

The pair last spoke to their father in March and have not visited him since November 2022.

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Pakistan’s Supreme Court had ordered last week that Khan be transferred to Shifa International Hospital in Islamabad, where he was to remain until at least 16 September — which would have marked his longest period outside prison since his incarceration began.

“We were cautiously optimistic,” said Sulaiman. “Our fears were confirmed when instead of being taken to the private hospital, where he was meant to be taken, he was just taken to a government medical facility for a few hours, and then taken straight back to jail.”

Kasim added that government doctors conducted a cursory examination lasting roughly an hour before declaring Khan fit, while staff at Shifa and a family member who is herself a physician were left waiting in vain.

Khan’s lawyers have characterised his prison conditions as “slow-motion murder,” and his sisters have alleged he has been subjected to torture.

The brothers also took aim at the British government’s response to their father’s plight, labelling it “feeble.”

“Whenever we have reached out to the foreign office, or the previous foreign secretary, there has just been such a feeble response,” Sulaiman said. “They say, ‘that is terrible to hear, we sympathise’, and then we hear nothing.”

Kasim was blunter still, saying the previous administration offered “zero support” and actively discouraged the brothers from travelling to Pakistan, warning it could not assist them if they did.

Their attempts to secure visas to visit their father have been repeatedly blocked on what they described as “technical reasons.”

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Both expressed cautious hope that Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband might prove more responsive.

The pair confirmed they plan to attend Lord’s on Saturday and will be cheering for Pakistan.

Islamabad has firmly denied any mistreatment of the former prime minister. The Pakistani government stated that Khan, held as a “convicted prisoner,” has received more than 900 visits from relatives, legal representatives and medical professionals since August 2023.

Officials said he is housed in a seven-cell compound with exercise facilities and has access to home-cooked meals, books and television. Doctors had found him medically fit before his return to prison, the government added.

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The Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office offered a measured response, stating that Pakistan’s judicial processes “are a domestic matter in which the UK does not interfere,” whilst noting that ministers have “regularly raised” the importance of upholding human rights obligations with their Pakistani counterparts.

Sky acknowledged receiving the PCB’s complaint but declined to comment further. Pakistan’s state broadcaster PTV chose not to air the interview.