1996 World Cup winning caption Arjuna Ranatunga joined India’s Sunil Gavaskar and Kapil Dev as 21 former international cricket team captains came together and issued a fresh appeal over Imran Khan's treatment in jail.
The ex-cricketers wrote a strongly worded letter addressed to Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and questioned how the 1992 World Cup-winning captain is being treated in jail.
The cricket legends claimed that the Pakistan Supreme Court's (SC) recent order for Imran to be shifted from Adiala Jail to a hospital was not fully followed.
The statement called for one of cricket's all-time great players be given proper medical treatment while his team is in custody. They made a three-point demand of the Pakistan government.
Full Text Of Letter Written By 21 Captains
Dear Prime Minister,
Six months ago, fourteen former international cricket captains wrote to you and the Pakistani government appealing for humane treatment and proper medical care for Imran Khan. We wrote then not as politicians, but as former colleagues and rivals who share a bond forged on the cricket field — one that transcends the borders and disputes that too often divide countries.
We write again now — joined by seven further former captains -because of what has reportedly just occurred. 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 Court also reinstated weekly family visits. These were very welcome steps. 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. His family and legal team say this falls short of what the Court ordered. We do not presume to adjudicate Pakistan's domestic legal processes. That is not our place, and it was not the spirit in which we wrote in February. But we do ask, again, respectfully: That the medical board directed by the Supreme Court — including Mr Khan's own doctors — be permitted to complete a full and independent assessment of his health, particularly the reported loss of vision in his right eye. That the weekly family visits reinstated by the Court be honoured without interruption or administrative delay. That whatever the outcome of that medical assessment, the treatment recommended by it be provided without delay.
Imran Khan is 73 years old and has now spent more than three years in custody. Whatever the legal and political arguments surrounding his case, the basic decency of ensuring a court-ordered medical process is actually completed is not, in our view, a controversial request. It is one we believe every nation that plays this game would recognise as fair.
We hope this matter can be resolved expeditiously and with the dignity Mr Imran Khan deserves.
Yours in cricket,
- 21 Former Cricket Captains
The letter was signed by - 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, Arjuna Ranatunga, Andrew Strauss, Dilip Vengsarkar, Stephen Waugh, John Wright.
Second Letter In 6 Months
This is the second such letter written by some of cricket's greatest ever former cricketers. The first one was signed by 14 people, including Indian cricket legend Gavaskar and Dev. This time, 1983 World Cup winner Dilip Vengsarkar as well as Alex Blackwell, Alastair Cook, Lee Germon, Adam Gilchrist, Arjuna Ranatunga, Andrew Strauss have joined the effort.
Imran Khan's Ordeal
For those unversed, Imran has been in jail since 5th August 2023 after being charged and convicted in multiple cases. The cricket-turned politician served as Pakistan's 19th PM from August 18, 2018, to April 10, 2022. His tenure ended following a no-confidence motion in the Pakistan Parliament against his party.
Alongside Imran, his wife Bushra Bibi is also serving a seven-year jail term, currently over several joint convictions.
– with Agencies inputs --
