Former international captains, led by Greg Chappell, urge Pakistan to allow court-ordered medical review for Imran Khan
On August 23, 2026, former international cricket captains led by Greg Chappell wrote to Pakistan’s government, headed by Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif, urging ‘‘humane treatment and proper medical care’’ for Imran Khan and appealing for the completion of a court-directed medical examination.
Six months earlier fourteen former captains had made a similar appeal; the new letter, signed by 21 former international captains after seven additional signatories joined, repeats that request and was addressed to ‘‘His Excellency Mian Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif Prime Minister of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan.’’ The group framed their intervention as former colleagues and rivals rather than as politicians and asked for their earlier appeal to be respected.
The letter notes Pakistan’s Supreme Court ordered Mr 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, and that the Court reinstated weekly family visits. According to the letter, the Court’s directives were welcome steps but were not fully implemented in practice.
The captains say 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, was declared ‘‘medically fit,’’ and was returned to Adiala Jail before the Court-ordered board could complete its work; the letter adds Mr Khan’s family and legal team say this falls short of what the Court ordered.
The appeal sets out three specific requests: 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 states Imran Khan is 73 years old and has now spent more than three years in custody and argues the completion of a court-ordered medical process is a basic decency. The signatories are identified in the piece and include Allan Border AO, Australian of the Year 1989 Sir Clive Lloyd CBE AO CM Padma Bhushan Kapil Dev Nikhanj Stephen Waugh AO, Australian of the Year 2004.
The captains conclude by asking that the Court-directed medical board be allowed to finish its assessment, that weekly family visits be maintained, and that any recommended treatment be provided without delay; the appeal requests these actions be taken by Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif so the matter can be resolved ‘‘expeditiously and with the dignity Mr Imran Khan deserves.’
