21 former international captains appeal to Pakistan PM for 'humane treatment and proper medical care' for Imran Khan

Former Australian captain Greg Chappell, joined by 20 other former international captains, wrote on August 23, 2026 to Pakistan Prime Minister Mian Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif at the Prime Minister’s Office in Islamabad, appealing for "humane treatment and proper medical care" for former Pakistan captain and Prime Minister Imran Khan. The appeal was signed by 21 ex-captains and renews a plea first made six months earlier by 14 former skippers.

The letter states the authors are writing "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." It says seven additional former captains have joined the original group because of recent developments, and it reproduces a Pakistan Supreme Court order directing that Imran Khan 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, which the letter describes as "very welcome steps." The signatories say the most recent reports about how those orders were carried out prompted this renewed appeal.

The letter asserts Mr. Khan’s hospital stay following the Court order lasted only a few hours and that he was examined by a state-appointed team rather than the board the Court had directed. It records that he was declared "medically fit" and returned to Adiala Jail before the Court-directed board could complete its work, and it notes Mr. Khan’s family and legal team regard that sequence as falling short of the Court’s instructions. The authors add, "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."

The former captains set out three specific requests to the Prime Minister. 1. "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." 2. "That the weekly family visits reinstated by the Court be honoured without interruption or administrative delay." 3. "That whatever the outcome of that medical assessment, the treatment recommended by it be provided without delay."

The letter records Mr. Khan’s age and time in custody: "Imran Khan is 73 years old and has now spent more than three years in custody." It adds the authors' view that ensuring a court-ordered medical process is actually completed is a matter of basic decency and states, "It is one we believe every nation that plays this game would recognise as fair."

The appeal is 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 Nikhanj, Arjuna Ranatunga, Andrew Strauss, Dilip Vengsarkar, Stephen Waugh and John Wright.

The group concluded the letter: "We hope this matter can be resolved expeditiously and with the dignity Mr. Imran Khan deserves." They reiterated their non-political stance in the appeal, stating again they approached the matter as former colleagues and rivals from the cricket field rather than as politicians.