Islamabad, August 23, 2026: Twenty-one former international cricket captains have written to Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, renewing their appeal for proper medical treatment for former Pakistan captain and prime minister Imran Khan following concerns over the implementation of a recent Supreme Court directive concerning his health.
The former captains said they were particularly concerned that Imran’s stay at a hospital lasted only a few hours after the Supreme Court ordered his transfer for examination by a medical board that was to include his personal physicians and his sister, Dr Uzma Khan.
The letter said the court had also reinstated weekly family visits, describing both measures as “very welcome steps”. However, the former cricketers expressed concern that Imran was examined by a state-appointed medical team, declared “medically fit” and returned to Adiala Jail before the medical board directed by the court could complete its work.
The former captains made three specific requests to the government.
They called for the Supreme Court-directed medical board, including Imran’s personal doctors, to be allowed to conduct a full and independent assessment of his health, particularly his reported loss of vision in his right eye.
They also urged the authorities to ensure that the weekly family visits restored by the Supreme Court take place without interruption or administrative delays.
The former cricketers further called for any treatment recommended following the medical assessment to be provided without delay.
The latest appeal is the second letter from former international cricket captains to Prime Minister Shehbaz in six months. In February, 14 former captains had written to the prime minister expressing concern over Imran’s health following reports of an eye condition which his family said had left him almost completely blind in one eye.
The signatories of the latest letter said they were writing “not as politicians, but as former colleagues and rivals who share a bond forged on the cricket field”. They stressed that they did not seek to interfere in or adjudicate Pakistan’s domestic legal proceedings.
The signatories include several of the most prominent figures in international cricket, including former Australia captains Allan Border, Greg Chappell, Ian Chappell and Steve Waugh; former India captains Sunil Gavaskar, Kapil Dev and Dilip Vengsarkar; former England captains Michael Atherton, Michael Brearley, Alastair Cook, Nasser Hussain and Andrew Strauss; former West Indies captain Clive Lloyd; former Sri Lanka captain Arjuna Ranatunga; former New Zealand captain John Wright; and former South Africa captain Lee Germon.
Other signatories include Alex Blackwell, Belinda Clark, Michael Gatting, Adam Gilchrist, David Gower and Kim Hughes.
Imran, who served as Pakistan’s prime minister from 2018 to 2022, has remained incarcerated following a series of convictions in cases filed against him after his removal from office. He is currently serving a 14-year sentence in the £190 million Al-Qadir Trust case.
His medical condition, particularly an eye ailment, has become a major political issue between the government and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), with the party accusing authorities of failing to provide adequate and transparent medical care.
The government has rejected allegations of medical neglect and maintained that Imran was medically examined in accordance with the Supreme Court’s directions before being returned to Adiala Jail.
