Imam-ul-Haq Under Threat of Two-Year Ban Over

If the Pakistan Cricket Board determines that Imam-ul-Haq acted unlawfully in connection with a calf injury that forced him to miss both innings of the second Test against England at Lord’s, he faces a two-year ban.

According to sources, the PCB is preparing to form a high-level committee dedicated to studying the circumstances behind that injury.

Imam had a minor calf strain while fielding on the first day of the Lord’s Test and did not continue to bat in the match. His absence coincided with a devastating defeat: England scored 290 in their first innings, Pakistan responded with 110, and a goal of 389 in the fourth proved too much for them, as they were dismissed for 194. The 194-run loss put Pakistan 2-0 down in the series.

According to Geo News, no formal accusations have been filed, and no ban has been enforced. The high-level committee has not yet been formed, and its composition and terms of reference are unknown.

What context does the Lord’s query follow?

The Lord’s investigation does not occur in isolation. A separate PCB committee previously looked at an incident from Pakistan’s tour of New Zealand in early 2025, when Imam was hit on his right big toe during an indoor net practice on March 28, that year.

That committee decided that he had misled medical officials and purposefully attempted to make himself unavailable for Pakistan’s first ODI of the New Zealand trip.

Imaging received at the time revealed no fractures or dislocations, prompting the committee to urge a ban on all formats. The question of whether that recommendation was ever transformed into a formal sanction remains unanswered, and so has been removed from the article prose.

The Lord’s case is thus being evaluated against the context of a previous determination that Imam overstated injury symptoms during an earlier trip.

What’s the next confirmed procedural step?

The immediate next step is to formally establish the PCB’s high-level committee to investigate the Lord’s calf ailment. Only until that committee is created and has completed its review can the board make a decision on charges or punishment. The PCB has not specified a timetable for completing the investigation.

The third Test between Pakistan and England will begin on September 9 at Edgbaston in Birmingham. The board has not announced if the probe will conclude before that fixture.