Pakistan’s interim Test coach Mike Hesson has denied reports that Salman Ali Agha refused to attend a meeting with King Charles III, saying the story was completely false and describing it as “unacceptable journalism.”A report by UK-based The Telegraph on Thursday claimed that one of the players dropped from Pakistan’s Test squad had refused to attend a meeting with the UK monarch.Hesson dismissed the report and said Salman had been informed well in advance that he would not be part of the Buckingham Palace visit.Hesson said Salman did not attend the audience with the King because he was part of the trio of players dropped from the squad first and, as a result, Salman, Imam and Rizwan were taken from the list of attendees to Clarence House, BBC reported.“Look, I know there’s been a void in the news, but people are just making up stories. Salman Ali Agha, as I’ve said, the three players were released from the squad before I arrived, well before Buckingham Palace,” Hesson said on Friday.“They were sent a note at that time that these three players would not be attending Buckingham Palace. So, someone’s just made something up,” he added.Hesson said the players who remained with the squad had already been invited to the event and there were no last-minute changes.“In terms of the other players, all of the rest of the players that were in the squad were already on the list. I was already on the list as the white-ball head coach, so there have been no changes to it,” he said.“It was all very straightforward. Someone’s just got two and two together and come up with nine. For me, that’s unacceptable journalism,” Hesson added.Pakistan’s coaching and squad changes came after defeats in the first two Tests against England.Pakistan lost the first Test at Headingley by an innings and 103 runs before suffering a 194-run defeat at Lord’s, giving England an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-match series.The Pakistan Cricket Board then made drastic changes, sending seven players home, calling up another seven players and replacing Test head coach Sarfaraz Ahmed with Hesson, who was already serving as Pakistan’s white-ball head coach.Senior players Imam-ul-Haq and Salman Ali Agha, who captained Pakistan in the first Test at Headingley when Babar Azam was injured, were among the players asked to leave the tour.
