Gavaskar, Kapil Dev Among 21 Former Captains Urging Pakistan for Humane Treatment of Imran Khan

Former international cricket captains, including India greats Sunil Gavaskar and Kapil Dev, have appealed to the Pakistan government to ensure “humane treatment and proper medical care” for former Pakistan Prime Minister and captain Imran Khan.

Former Australia captain Greg Chappell, along with 20 other former international skippers, has written to Pakistan Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif, raising concerns over the treatment and medical care being provided to the 73-year-old Imran Khan, who has been in custody for more than three years.

The appeal comes six months after 14 former international captains had written to the Pakistan government seeking proper medical attention and humane treatment for Khan.

The latest letter, signed by seven additional former captains, refers to recent developments surrounding his medical examination and hospital stay.

The former cricketers said Pakistan’s Supreme Court had ordered Imran Khan to be transferred to hospital for examination by a medical board that was to include his personal physicians and his sister, Dr Uzma Khan. The Court had also reinstated weekly family visits.

However, according to the letter, Khan’s hospital stay lasted only a few hours. He was examined by a state-appointed team instead of the medical board directed by the Supreme Court, subsequently declared “medically fit” and returned to Adiala Jail before the court-directed board could complete its assessment.

The former captains said Khan’s family and legal team believe the process did not comply with the Supreme Court’s directions.

The letter stated:

“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.”

The signatories also urged authorities to allow the Supreme Court-directed medical board to conduct a complete and independent assessment, particularly concerning the reported loss of vision in Khan’s right eye.

They further called for weekly family visits to be honoured and for any treatment recommended following the medical assessment to be provided without delay.

The letter concluded: “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.”

The former captains stressed that their appeal was based on humanitarian concerns rather than political considerations.

“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.”

They added: “It is one we believe every nation that plays this game would recognise as fair.”

The letter was signed by Michael Atherton OBE, Alex Blackwell, Allan Border AO, Australian of the Year 1989, Michael Brearley OBE, Greg Chappell AO MBE, Ian Chappell, Belinda Clark AO, Sir Alastair Cook, Padma Bhushan Sunil Gavaskar, Lee Germon, Adam Gilchrist AM, David Gower OBE, Kim Hughes, Nasser Hussain OBE, Sir Clive Lloyd CBE AO CM, Padma Bhushan Kapil Dev Nikhanj, Deshamanya Arjuna Ranatunga, Sir Andrew Strauss, Padma Shri Dilip Vengsarkar, Stephen Waugh AO, Australian of the Year 2004, John Wright MBE.