Give Imran Khan proper medical care, cricket legends urge Pakistani gov’t

Pakistan’s imprisoned erstwhile premier curate and cricket captain, Imran Khan, indispensable beryllium fixed “humane attraction and due aesculapian care”, impulse a radical of cricket greats successful a missive seen by Al Jazeera and addressed to Pakistan’s existent Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif.

Twenty-one erstwhile captains from astir the satellite person appealed to Sharif’s authorities to let an autarkic appraisal of Khan’s health, reinstate his play household visits and supply him with the required aesculapian attraction without delay, 4 signatories of the missive confirmed to Al Jazeera precocious connected Sunday.

Khan, 73, has been imprisoned for the past 3 years connected a scope of charges.

On Tuesday, Pakistan’s Supreme Court ordered section authorities to transportation Khan from Adiala jailhouse to the privately tally Shifa International Hospital by midnight connected Thursday. However connected Saturday, Khan’s party, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), filed a contempt petition against the authorities aft helium was sent to a state-run infirmary alternatively of the backstage installation ordered by the apical court, enactment officials said.

Khan is wide regarded arsenic 1 of the world’s greatest-ever all-rounders and arguably Pakistan’s top cricketer, who led his federation to its archetypal World Cup triumph successful 1992 and holds the grounds for astir planetary wins for a Pakistani captain.

Khan’s erstwhile cricket adversaries turned friends said the caller events prompted them to pen a missive to Sharif, who replaced the PTI laminitis arsenic premier curate successful April 2022 and again aft Pakistan’s past wide predetermination successful February 2024.

The letter, dated August 23, follows similar outreach successful February by 14 erstwhile planetary cricket captains who raised concerns implicit Khan’s deteriorating wellness and alleged mistreatment during his imprisonment.

“We wrote past not arsenic politicians, but arsenic erstwhile colleagues and rivals who stock a enslaved forged connected the cricket tract — 1 that transcends the borders and disputes that excessively often disagreement countries,” said the letter.

“We constitute again present — joined by 7 further erstwhile captains — due to the fact that of what has reportedly conscionable occurred,” work the letter, whose signatories see cricket Hall of Famers Sunil Gavaskar, Kapil Dev, Clive Lloyd, Allan Border, Greg Chappell, Ian Chappell, John Wright and David Gower.

No Pakistani names among signatories

Greg Chappell, who shared a affable enslaved with Khan pursuing their status from cricket, initiated the missive connected some occasions.

Lloyd told Al Jazeera connected Sunday that helium contributed to the letter. Former England captains David Gower, Nasser Hussain and Michael Atherton besides confirmed signing it.

Notably, nary erstwhile Pakistani cricketers were among the signatories of some letters, though respective prima players person publically voiced concerns implicit Khan’s wellness successful the past.

Gavaskar, Dev and Dilip Vengsarkar are the 3 Indian players among the 21, portion erstwhile Sri Lanka captain, Arjuna Ranatunga, is the different South Asian name.

Former Australian women’s squad captains Alex Blackwell and Belinda Clark are besides connected the database of signatories.

The missive praised the “welcome steps” of the Supreme Court ordering Khan’s transportation to a backstage infirmary for aesculapian introspection by a committee that included idiosyncratic physicians and his sister, Dr Uzma Khan.

The signatories requested the authorities that:

• The aesculapian committee directed by the Supreme Court — including Khan’s ain doctors — beryllium permitted to implicit a afloat and autarkic appraisal of his health, peculiarly the reported nonaccomplishment of imaginativeness successful his close eye.
• The play household visits reinstated by the tribunal beryllium honoured without interruption oregon administrative delay.
• Whatever the result of that aesculapian assessment, the attraction recommended by it beryllium provided without delay.

The erstwhile cricketers lamented Khan’s short-lived infirmary visit. They reiterated the concerns raised by his family, who said the introspection by a state-appointed squad and swift instrumentality aft being declared “medically fit” fell abbreviated of what the Supreme Court ordered.

“Whatever the ineligible and governmental arguments surrounding his case, the basal decency of ensuring a court-ordered aesculapian process is really completed is not, successful our view, a arguable request,” the missive said.

“It is 1 we judge each federation that plays this crippled would recognise arsenic fair.”

The Pakistan authorities did not respond to Al Jazeera’s petition for a comment.

Full database of signatories: Michael Atherton, Alex Blackwell, Allan Border, Michael Brearley, Greg Chappell, Ian Chappell, Belinda Clark, Alastair Cook, Sunil Gavaskar, Lee Germon, Adam Gilchrist, David Gower, Kim Hughes, Nasser Hussain, Clive Lloyd, Kapil Dev Nikhanj, Deshamanya Arjuna Ranatunga, Sir Andrew Strauss, Dilip Vengsarkar, Stephen Waugh, John Wright.

Imran Khan’s sister Uzma, with his idiosyncratic doc Faisal Sultan speaks to reporters successful Islamabad, August 21, 2026 [Anjum Naveed/AP]

Chappell praises Khan’s charisma and power

Following the archetypal entreaty made to the Pakistani authorities successful February, Greg Chappell wrote and spoke astir his enslaved with Khan and what prompted him to instrumentality the pb successful penning the letter.

He said that the missive was meant to item a quality rights contented alternatively than beryllium a governmental involution and admitted being pleasantly amazed astatine however rapidly it came unneurotic since everyone was successful the aforesaid boat.

“This seems to person had immoderate existent impact,” Chappell said arsenic helium emphasised the request for the archetypal missive to person “long-lasting impact” alternatively than fizzle retired successful the adjacent quality cycle.

The erstwhile Australian skipper praised the charisma Khan wielded some connected the tract arsenic a cricketer and aboriginal erstwhile helium entered politics.

“People were threatened by idiosyncratic similar Imran due to the fact that of his aura, idiosyncratic powerfulness and charm,” helium told the Cricket Et Al podcast successful February.

“They were threatened by him and evidently that’s played its portion successful this.”