Mike Hesson responds to reports of Salman Ali Agha’s absence from Buckingham Palace: ‘Someone made something up’
Interim red ball coach in Pakistan Mike Hesson Rumors that Salman Ali Agha turned down an invitation to attend an event at Buckingham Palace to meet British monarch King Charles III have been quashed. The event was held after Pakistan released seven players from its Test squad following the Lord’s defeat, including Agha.
while Imam Haqq and Muhammad Radwan Immediately after returning home, Agha was asked to stay home but was not seen at the event. The other four players who were released from the team, Aamer Jamal, Ali Usman, Owais Zafar and Khurram Shehzad, attended the event. Hesson has now clarified that Agha did not reject the invitation.
Hesson dismissed speculation surrounding Agha’s absence from the Buckingham Palace event, insisting the player was never expected to attend following his release from the Test squad. The Pakistani coach said that the reports were simply fabricated.
“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.”
“Two and two together and you come up with nine.”
Hesson also clarified that there were no last-minute changes to Buckingham Palace’s guest list, insisting that players who remained in the squad had already been included. He said the situation was clear and criticized the reports surrounding the Aga’s absence, accusing the media of drawing wrong conclusions from the circumstances.
“Regarding the other players, the rest of the players who were in the team were already on the list. I was already on the list as a white-ball coach, so there were no changes to it,” he said.
“It was all very clear,” Hesson concluded. “Someone put two and two together and came up with nine. To me, that’s unacceptable journalism.”
Pakistan lost the first Test against England by an innings and 103 runs before suffering a 194-run defeat in the second, leaving them 2-0 down in the three-match series. The visitors have struggled mightily with the bat, failing to cross the 200-run mark in any of their four innings so far. Pakistan will now look to avoid a series whitewash when they face England in the third Test, which begins on September 9.
