As the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) swung the axe on 7 players and two coaches in the middle of the England Test series, the cricketing world witnessed something it had never seen. During the gap between the second and the third Test, the Pakistan team also met King Charles in the United Kingdom, but reports suggested that certain players refused to be a part of the meeting as they had been ‘sacked’. According to a UK-based media report, one of the players who said no to the meeting was Salman Ali Agha, the man who led the team in the first Test.
Among the casualties was head coach Sarfaraz Ahmed, who was recently given the Test team’s baton. The man who replaced him was Mike Hesson, the white-ball coach.
As Hesson arrived to address the media ahead of the third and final Test in Edgbaston, he was asked about the players’ refusal to meet the UK monarch. The coach, however, wasn’t happy with the question, or rather, the rumour.
“Look, I know there’s been a void in the news, but people are just making up stories. Salman Ali Agha, as I’ve said, the three players were released from the squad before I arrived, well before Buckingham Palace,” Hesson said on Friday.
“They were sent a note at that time that these three players would not be attending Buckingham Palace. So, someone’s just made something up,” he added.
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Hesson blasted the news report, saying the story was completely fabricated, as no player in the Pakistan team refused to meet King Charles. Since some players were being sent back home, they were naturally not asked to be present for the meeting.
“In terms of the other players, all of the rest of the players that were in the squad were already on the list. I was already on the list as the white-ball head coach, so there have been no changes to it,” he said. “It was all very straightforward. Someone’s just got two and two together and come up with nine. For me, that’s unacceptable journalism,” Hesson asserted.