Former cricket captains press Pakistan for medical access to Imran Khan
Twenty-one former cricket captains, including India great Sunil Gavaskar and former England skipper Sir Alastair Cook, have urged Pakistan to ensure Imran Kh...
Twenty-one former cricket captains, including India great Sunil Gavaskar and former England skipper Sir Alastair Cook, have urged Pakistan to ensure Imran Khan receives proper medical care while in custody. The appeal, sent to Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, adds fresh international pressure over the treatment of the 73-year-old former Pakistan leader, who has been jailed since 2023 on corruption charges he denies.
Letter to Sharif
The group said they were concerned Khan was allowed only a few hours at a hospital last week, where a state-appointed medical team examined him. That detail has sharpened worries among his supporters and among former players who know Khan as one of cricket’s most famous names. He led Pakistan to the 1992 World Cup title before moving into politics.
Short. Direct. The request is clear.
Khan’s party has also filed a contempt petition against the government, saying officials have not given him access to his own doctors despite an order from the country’s top court.
What the captains want
In their letter, the former skippers set out three demands. First, they want Khan assessed by a medical board directed by Pakistan’s Supreme Court, with his personal physicians included, especially because of reported loss of vision in his right eye. Second, they called for weekly family visits to go ahead without interruptions or administrative delays, as the court ordered. Third, they said any treatment recommended by the medical board should be carried out properly.
The intervention is unusual. Former international cricketers rarely step so directly into a legal and custody dispute, but Khan’s profile in the sport gives the issue a reach far beyond Pakistan. Gavaskar and Cook are among the best-known names to join the appeal, giving it weight in cricket circles from South Asia to England.
The letter puts the focus back on Khan’s health and on whether court directions are being followed inside a case that has already become a political flashpoint. The next move now sits with Pakistan’s authorities, after 21 former captains asked for care that matches the court’s orders and a medical board that includes Khan’s own doctors.
