Whatever he might’ve done as a cricketer, former England captain and commentator Michael Atherton will now be remembered as the one who internationalised the fate of Imran Khan. While the Pakistani Establishment (E capitalised deliberately, always) has spent 75 years trying to internationalise Kashmir, this is one they wanted to become a cross-border talking point least of all. It has drawn Australian Pat Cummins to add his voice as well. He’s the first serving captain to do so.
Atherton, therefore, deserves the highest award that may exist anywhere for building pan-national solidarity in sports. This is for interviewing Imran’s sons Kasim and Sulaiman in the Lord’s Long Room. Then Sky Sports broadcast it during lunch hour on day-1 of the Lord’s Test.This, despite the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) threat to boycott the match. The PCB is led by a man formidable for other reasons. Mohsin Naqvi, of the Asia Cup trophy fame, is Pakistan’s interior minister, most favourite Sancho Panza to Donald Trump’s favourite Field Marshal. Sky Sports risked losing the rest of the telecast; Atherton his future Pakistan visas; and the English Cricket Board their goodwill with Pakistan.
Between the risks taken by all three, they shifted the debate over Imran’s fate from Pakistan’s bloody domestic politics to international cricket. This is one thing the Pakistani Establishment never wanted to ‘cricketise’. Twenty-one former cricket captains, including three from India, had signed a joint letter seeking humane treatment for Imran. That was easy for Pakistan to dismiss as has-beens’ nostalgia. This has changed. Obviously, one Test match lunch-hour is a long time in Pakistani politics.
