Imam-ul-Haq Injury Controversy: Pakistan's Batting Collapse at Lord’s

Lord’s has seen enough drama over the decades, but Pakistan managed to add a fresh twist: a batting collapse on the field, and an explosive accusation off it.

As Pakistan tried to absorb the damage of being rolled for 110, former chief selector Mohammad Wasim lit a fuse. Speaking about opener Imam-ul-Haq, who missed Pakistan’s first innings with a calf problem, Wasim accused the left-hander of having a history of “faking” injuries to avoid playing.

It turned a difficult Test into a full-blown flashpoint.

The injury, the scans, and the accusation

Imam pulled up with a left calf strain while fielding on the opening day of the second Test at Lord’s, leaving the field during the evening session. The Pakistan Cricket Board moved quickly to clarify the situation.

“Scans later confirmed a low-grade calf strain and Imam is currently receiving treatment under the supervision of the Pakistan medical team,” the PCB said, adding that his participation in the rest of the Test would depend on how he responded to treatment.

So far, so routine. A senior opener injured, a scan, a medical update.

Then Wasim stepped in.

“In 2022 Multan test, the physio warned me in advance that he is going to fake an injury soon. And he did that,” Wasim claimed, suggesting Imam had a pattern of using fitness issues as a way out of matches.

No documents. No corroboration. Just his recollection of a private warning, aired publicly while the player in question is again under medical care and officially diagnosed with a strain.

Pakistan’s problems go far beyond one calf

Imam’s absence at the top of the order hurt Pakistan. He had opened alongside youngster Azan Awais in the series opener at Leeds, a match Pakistan lost by an innings inside three days. Losing one of their few experienced batters for the bulk of the Lord’s Test stripped an already fragile line-up of another layer of resistance.

But the scorecard tells its own story: Pakistan’s issues run much deeper than one injured opener.

Chasing England’s 290, the visitors imploded for just 110 in 37.2 overs. It was brutal. It was quick. It was familiar.

Ollie Robinson was relentless, returning extraordinary figures of 4 for 11 from 13 overs, including six maidens. Jofra Archer thundered in for 3 for 26 from 11.2 overs. Josh Tongue added two wickets. Only Gus Atkinson went wicketless, yet England still strangled Pakistan inside two sessions.

By stumps on the second day, England had moved to 81 for 3 in their second innings, stretching the lead to 261 before bad light closed play. Pakistan were not just behind; they were buried under a mountain of runs and doubt.

That is the real crisis.

Timing, proof, and a public trial

Wasim’s charge lands in the middle of that crisis, and that is what makes it so combustible.

Questioning fitness standards, injury management, or a player’s durability is not off-limits for a former selector. It is part of the job description to worry about who is available and why. If he genuinely believes there is a pattern, he has every right to raise it.

But there is a difference between raising concerns through proper channels and dropping a loaded claim into the media while a current international is sidelined with a scan-confirmed injury.

Right now, there is no evidence on the table beyond Wasim’s version of a conversation with a physio in 2022. No report. No formal finding. Yet the accusation alone chips away at Imam’s reputation and, by extension, the trust between players and those who pick them.

It also drags attention away from Pakistan’s chronic, visible problems: a brittle top order, repeated collapses in seaming conditions, techniques that crumble under sustained pressure, and a team structure that lurches from one tour to the next.

Those are not rumours. They are there in every scoreboard.

A team under scrutiny, a claim that won’t vanish

This is why Wasim’s words matter. If he has evidence, it should go through a formal review, not hang in the air as a soundbite. If he does not, the damage is already done: a public questioning of a player’s honesty, delivered in the middle of a Test at the game’s most scrutinised venue.

For Pakistan, the immediate task is brutal enough: find a way to bat long enough in the fourth innings at Lord’s to salvage pride, if not the match. For Imam, the challenge is different but just as stark.

When the calf heals, he will not just be walking back into an opening slot.

He will be walking back into a spotlight that has suddenly turned very, very harsh.