The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has named a six-member commentary panel for the lads’s ODI tri-series involving Pakistan, England and Sri Lanka, scheduled to be performed from October 18 to 31, with distinguished English commentators Michael Atherton and Nasser Hussain lacking from the line-up.
The omission comes two months after the duo interviewed Kasim and Sulaiman Khan, sons of jailed former Pakistan Prime Minister and cricket legend Imran Khan, in the course of the Lord’s Check between England and Pakistan in August 2026. The PCB has not supplied any cause for his or her absence from the upcoming task.
Atherton and Hussain are among the many most distinguished voices in worldwide cricket commentary and have been a part of the printed staff when England final toured Pakistan for a three-match Check sequence in October 2024.
The interview with Imran Khan’s sons, performed by Atherton and aired by Sky Sports activities, lasted 18 minutes and raised considerations over the previous Pakistan captain’s deteriorating well being in jail. Kasim and Sulaiman alleged that the authorities have been ‘blatantly making an attempt to kill him’ via neglect and isolation.
The printed triggered a powerful response from the PCB, which objected to what it thought of the political nature of the section and filed a proper grievance with Sky Sports activities. The state of affairs reportedly intensified to the purpose that the board threatened a participant walkout, with Pakistan contemplating staying off the sphere for the afternoon session in protest.
Sky Sports activities went forward with the interview regardless of the stress, though Pakistan’s state broadcaster PTV censored the section. Atherton subsequently addressed the controversy on a podcast with Hussain, defending his involvement and saying the Pakistani state was making an attempt to ‘airbrush Imran nearly out of existence’.
For the upcoming tri-series, the commentary line-up options former Pakistan internationals Waqar Younis, Aamir Sohail, Bazid Khan and Urooj Mumtaz, alongside Sri Lanka’s Roshan Abeysinghe and England’s Mark Butcher. Zainab Abbas will function the presenter.
Younis will be a part of the panel from the second fixture, when Pakistan meet England on the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium on October 20. The event opens on Sunday, October 18, with Pakistan going through Sri Lanka in Rawalpindi.
ODI tri-series schedule
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October 18: Pakistan vs Sri Lanka, Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium, Rawalpindi
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October 20: Pakistan vs England, Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium, Rawalpindi
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October 22: Sri Lanka vs England, Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium, Rawalpindi
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October 25: Pakistan vs England, Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore
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October 27: Pakistan vs Sri Lanka, Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore
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October 29: Sri Lanka vs England, Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore
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October 31: Tri-series ultimate, Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore
