The Pakistani coach breaks his silence on reports that Salman Ali Agha is ignoring a meeting with King Charles

Pakistani interim red-ball coach Mike Hesson has dismissed speculation surrounding Salman Ali Agha not attending the meeting with King Charles III at Clarence House. The entire Pakistani team was invited to the royal event ahead of the third Test match against England and was attended by all members of the traveling party. But Agha’s absence sparked speculation and some reports linked it to the changes made to the Pakistani team after the second Test. Pakistan lost their Test match against England and the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) decided to remove 7 players from the squad for the third Test and even release the head coach. Sarfaraz Ahmed And bowling coach Omar Gul.

Amer JamalAli Othman, Owais Zafar and Khurram Shehzad They were present at the royal event while In front of the truth Mohamed Radwan reportedly returned home. However, Hesson denied any such speculations and said that the three players, including Agha, had already been released from the team before he joined the team.

“Look, I know there’s a vacuum in the news, but people are just making up stories,” Hesson said. “Salman Ali Agha, as I said, the three players were released from the squad before I arrived, long before Buckingham Palace.”

He added: “A message was sent to them at the time that these three players would not attend Buckingham Palace. So, someone made something up.”

Hesson, who had been working as Pakistan’s white-ball head coach, was handed the red-ball reins for the third and final Test in Birmingham, starting on September 9.

“Look when they (Pakistan Cricket Board) told me if I could manage the team for the final Test, those three players (Rizwan, Agha and Imam) had already been released from the team and (were) on their way home. So, I don’t really know what happened there,” Hesson told a press conference in Birmingham.

Hesson said that he participated in the dismissal of the rest of the players and included some new players.

“We already had a white-ball camp in Lahore and I had just returned from Japan, where the Asian Games are being held, when I was asked if I could manage the red-ball team,” he added.

(With agency inputs)

Today’s featured video

Neeraj Chopra wins silver and Yashveer Singh bronze as India secures two podium finishes in CWG Javelin