Twenty-one former international cricket captains have renewed their appeal to Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif over Imran Khan’s health and medical treatment in prison.
The group sent its second letter in six months after raising similar concerns in February. The earlier appeal carried the signatures of 14 former captains.
The latest letter cites recent developments that the signatories say failed to meet a Supreme Court directive.
“Pakistan’s Supreme Court ordered that Imran Khan be transferred to hospital for examination by a medical board that was to include his own personal physicians and his sister, Dr Uzma Khan,” the letter said. “The Court also reinstated weekly family visits. These were very welcome steps.”
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The captains said Khan remained in hospital for only a few hours. They claimed a state-appointed team examined him instead of the court-directed board.
“Concerningly, Mr Khan’s hospital stay lasted only a few hours. He was examined by a state-appointed team rather than the board the Court had directed, declared ‘medically fit,’ and returned to Adiala Jail before that board could complete its work,” they added.
The Supreme Court ordered Khan’s transfer from Adiala Jail to Shifa International Hospital on August 18. It also allowed weekly family visits and calls with his sons. Reuters later reported that authorities took him to hospital before returning him to jail.
Three demands sent to prime minister
The former captains made three specific requests to the government.
First, they urged authorities to let the Supreme Court-directed medical board complete an independent health assessment. That board must include Khan’s personal doctors, they said. They highlighted reports about vision loss in his right eye.
Second, they asked the authorities to ensure uninterrupted weekly family visits. Third, they demanded immediate access to any treatment recommended by the medical board.
The signatories said they wrote “not as politicians, but as former colleagues and rivals who share a bond forged on the cricket field.”
They also made clear that they did not seek to judge Pakistan’s domestic legal proceedings.
The published list includes Michael Atherton, Alex Blackwell, Allan Border, Michael Brearley, Greg Chappell, Ian Chappell, Belinda Clark, Alastair Cook, Michael Gatting, Sunil Gavaskar and Lee Germon. It also names Adam Gilchrist, David Gower, Kim Hughes, Nasser Hussain, Clive Lloyd, Kapil Dev, Arjuna Ranatunga, Andrew Strauss, Dilip Vengsarkar, Steve Waugh and John Wright.
The source report describes 21 signatories, although its published list contains 22 names.
Government rejects mistreatment allegations
Khan captained Pakistan to its 1992 World Cup victory. He later served as prime minister from 2018 until his removal through a no-confidence vote in 2022.
He has remained in prison since August 2023 following convictions in several cases. Khan and his party call the charges politically motivated. The government rejects that allegation.
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Amnesty International has raised concerns about his trial, medical access and detention conditions. Khan’s sons have alleged psychological torture and confinement in a “death cell.”
Pakistan’s government denies medical neglect and mistreatment. It says medical records show that Khan remains in good health and receives facilities allowed under prison rules.
