Former cricket legends ask Pakistan to look after jailed ex‑PM Imran Khan’s health.
Sunil Gavaskar, Greg Chappell, Sir Alastair Cook and other retired captains wrote a letter to the country’s top politician, Shehbaz Sharif, demanding better medical care for the 73‑year‑old former leader.
The cricketers point out that Khan has only had “few hours” at a state-run hospital and that he has not been allowed any doctors he chooses – a court order he was supposed to follow. They want a medical board set up by the Supreme Court, including his own doctors, to check his conditions and especially a possible sight loss in his right eye.
They also want his family to be able to visit weekly with no interruptions, and want any treatment suggested by the board to be given right away. The request says, “this is basic decency, not a political argument.”
Imran Khan was jailed in August 2023 while a court case is pending and has been the center of large protests by his supporters, which were shut down by authorities.
In February, 14 of the same former captains earlier sent an appeal for humane treatment, and a Supreme Court notice has told the government to move Khan to a private hospital. Instead he was sent back to a government hospital that said he was medically fit.
These cricket icons hope that national politics and sporting friendship can work together to protect human rights.
