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Former cricket captains urge Pakistan to provide proper medical care for Imran Khan

A group of 21 international cricket leaders sent a letter to Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif seeking court-mandated health assessments for the jailed former premier.

Updated Aug 24, 2026 · 04:18 UTC1 reports

The short version

  • A coalition of 21 former international cricket captains called on Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif to ensure jailed former prime minister Imran Khan receives adequate healthcare.
  • The letter demands that Khan be evaluated by a court-ordered medical board that includes his personal doctors, specifically regarding alleged vision loss in his right eye.
  • Khan's political party has filed a contempt petition alleging authorities defied Supreme Court directives by taking him to a state hospital rather than a private facility with his own physicians.

Key facts

  • Twenty-one former international cricket captains, including Sunil Gavaskar, Sir Alastair Cook, and Greg Chappell, signed a letter urging the Pakistani government to ensure court-ordered medical care for Imran Khan.[BBC News]
  • The signatories requested that Khan be examined by a Supreme Court-directed medical board including his personal doctors, receive uninterrupted weekly family visits, and obtain prompt treatment.[BBC News]
  • Pakistan's Supreme Court directed authorities to transfer Khan to a private hospital for examination, but he was instead evaluated for a few hours by a state-appointed team at a public facility in Islamabad.[BBC News]
  • Khan, who served as prime minister from 2018 to 2022, has been detained since August 2023 facing over 100 legal charges that he maintains are politically motivated.[BBC News]

What remains uncertain

  • The exact condition of Khan's health remains unverified by independent or personal physicians following conflicting accounts between his defense counsel—who previously asserted a severe loss of vision in his right eye—and state hospital doctors who deemed him medically fit.[BBC News]

Sources