Former Pakistan selector claims Babar Azam ‘protected’ Imam-ul-Haq in faking injury, alleges abuse of medical staff

Former Pakistan selector claims Babar Azam 'protected' Imam-ul-Haq in faking injury, alleges abuse of medical staff originally appeared on Cricket News. Add Cricket News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

KEY TAKEAWAYS:

Former selector Faisal Iqbal accused Babar Azam of protecting Imam-ul-Haq.

Iqbal alleged a incident where medical staff were verbally abused to manipulate fitness reports for the opener.

The explosive claims further undermine the credibility of Pakistan's medical protocols.

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Things continue to become murkier in the Imam-ul-Haq saga

The administrative fallout from Pakistan's disastrous second Test at Lord's has escalated from selection panic to explicit accusations of internal cover-ups.

Former national selector and domestic head coach Faisal Iqbal has publicly alleged that captain Babar Azam and former management actively protected opener Imam-ul-Haq by overriding and pressuring medical staff over injury reports.

Responding to the ongoing debate around Imam sitting out Pakistan's second-innings chase with a PCB-confirmed calf strain, Iqbal claimed that selectors were subjected to heavy pressure during his tenure.

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He alleged a specific pattern of behavior where team leadership shielded the batter from accountability when fitness issues arose.

"Yes! Babar & management protected him in that incident also but officially reported in PCB. We as selectors were kept 'UNDER PRESSURE'," he wrote. "He even abused my Balochistan first class team physio medical panel about giving report! I was the Head Coach / Selector going through it badly."

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Iqbal's allegations and the pressure on medical staff

According to Iqbal, the interference went beyond selection room politics to direct harassment of medical staff. He stated that management verbally abused the Balochistan first-class team physio and medical panel to control the official narrative surrounding Imam's physical condition

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Iqbal's statements open a direct front against how fitness evaluations are handled within Pakistan's domestic and national pipelines. By asserting that selectors were kept "under pressure" and that first-class physios faced abuse for submitting honest medical assessments, Iqbal depicts an environment where clinical diagnostics were treated as negotiable political tools.

The former selector highlighted a specific incident involving the Balochistan domestic squad, claiming the official report detailing the episode was formally logged with the PCB.

If verified, the allegation indicates that senior players and management held sufficient leverage to suppress domestic medical findings without facing institutional sanctions.

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The PCB has not yet issued an official response to Iqbal's public comments, but the claims add immediate toxicity to an administrative environment already reeling from the mid-tour dismissal of head coach Sarfaraz Ahmed and seven senior players.

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Whole Imam case shows the structural damage with PCB

If a national captain and management team can bully first-class physios into altering medical documentation, the entire selection apparatus is compromised. Medical decisions in high-performance sport must remain strictly independent of dressing-room politics.

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The moment a doctor's report becomes open to intimidation, athletic accountability ceases to exist. The PCB's long-standing habit of operating selection panels under informal pressure guarantees this kind of public breakdown once results deteriorate.

Iqbal's willingness to go public reflects a culture where internal grievances are only aired when the administrative structure begins to collapse under the weight of an on-field crisis.

Whether the PCB launches a formal inquiry into Iqbal's allegations or attempts to ignore them, the structural damage is done. Moving forward, every injury report issued by the Pakistan medical team will be viewed not as a clinical diagnosis, but as a political document crafted to manage public perception.

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