From Allan Border, Greg Chappell and Steve Waugh to Sunil Gavaskar, Kapil Dev, Nasser Hussain and Sir Clive Lloyd, cricket legends from around the world have united in an extraordinary appeal for humane treatment and proper medical care for imprisoned former Pakistan captain and Prime Minister Imran Khan.
25 August 2026
Twenty-one former international cricket captains from across the cricketing world have written directly to Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, urging his government to ensure that former Prime Minister and Pakistan’s 1992 World Cup-winning captain Imran Khan receives the independent medical assessment and treatment ordered by the Supreme Court of Pakistan.
The letter, dated 23 August 2026, represents the second intervention by international cricket captains in six months.
In February, fourteen former captains had appealed to the Pakistani government over concerns surrounding Khan’s health and treatment.
Seven more former captains have now joined them.
Their latest intervention comes after a Supreme Court order directed that Imran Khan be transferred for examination by a medical board that was to include his own physicians and his sister, Dr. Uzma Khan, while also restoring weekly family visits.
Instead, Khan was taken to the government-run Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences, examined by a state-appointed team and returned to Adiala Jail after only a few hours.
That sequence of events prompted some of the biggest names in the history of international cricket to speak again.
“Not as politicians, but as former colleagues and rivals”
The significance of the appeal lies partly in who is making it.
The captains explicitly state that they are not intervening in Pakistan’s political disputes or attempting to adjudicate its legal proceedings.
They write as men and women who shared the cricket field with Imran Khan — as teammates, opponents and members of the international cricket fraternity.
Their letter explains that their bond was forged through cricket and transcends the political and national disputes that divide countries.
That is particularly striking because several of the signatories represented nations that were fierce sporting rivals of Pakistan.
They are not asking Pakistan’s government to decide a political case in Khan’s favour.
They are asking for something much more basic:
Carry out the Supreme Court-ordered medical process properly.
The 21 Former International Captains
The signed letter includes some of the most celebrated names in cricket history:
England
- Michael Atherton OBE
- Michael Brearley OBE
- Sir Alastair Cook
- David Gower OBE
- Nasser Hussain OBE
- Sir Andrew Strauss
Australia
- Alex Blackwell
- Allan Border AO
- Greg Chappell AO MBE
- Ian Chappell
- Belinda Clark AO
- Adam Gilchrist AM
- Kim Hughes
- Stephen Waugh AO
India
- Sunil Gavaskar
- Kapil Dev
- Dilip Vengsarkar
West Indies
- Sir Clive Lloyd CBE AO CM
Sri Lanka
- Arjuna Ranatunga
New Zealand
- Lee Germon
- John Wright MBE
These are not marginal figures in world cricket.
Among them are World Cup-winning captains, national sporting icons, Australian of the Year recipients, knights, Hall of Fame-level players and some of the most respected voices the game has produced. The original letter lists all 21 signatories.
Their Three Requests to Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif
The letter makes three clear and limited requests.
1. Complete the Supreme Court-ordered medical examination
The captains ask that the medical board directed by the Supreme Court — including Imran Khan’s own doctors — be allowed to conduct a full and independent assessment of his health.
They specifically highlight concern over the reported loss of vision in his right eye.
2. Honour weekly family visits
They ask that the family visits reinstated by the Supreme Court be permitted without interruption or administrative delay.
3. Provide whatever treatment doctors recommend
Whatever the independent medical assessment concludes, the captains ask that the recommended treatment be provided without delay.
These are the three substantive demands set out in the signed letter.
“The basic decency of ensuring a court-ordered medical process is completed”
The appeal deliberately avoids taking a position on the cases against Imran Khan.
Instead, the captains make a simple argument.
Khan is 73 years old and has spent more than three years in custody.
Whatever Pakistanis may believe about the political and legal controversies surrounding him, ensuring that a medical process ordered by the country’s highest court is actually completed should not be controversial.
The letter says this is a standard of fairness that nations throughout the cricketing world should recognise.
That message has now generated international media coverage of its own.
Al Jazeera: “Give Imran Khan proper medical care”
Al Jazeera gave the appeal prominent international coverage under the headline:
“Give Imran Khan proper medical care, cricket legends urge Pakistani gov’t”
Al Jazeera reported that 21 former international captains called on Prime Minister Sharif’s government to provide Khan with “humane treatment and proper medical care”.
The report emphasised the international stature of the signatories and highlighted their three requests: an independent medical examination, uninterrupted family visits and timely treatment.
It also reported that four signatories independently confirmed the letter to Al Jazeera.
The headline captures the essential character of the appeal: this is not a demand about who should govern Pakistan.
It is a demand concerning medical care and humane treatment.
Associated Press Takes the Appeal Worldwide
The Associated Press subsequently distributed the story internationally under the headline:
“Cricket captains from around the world renew appeal for medical treatment of Imran Khan”
AP highlighted famous names including Sunil Gavaskar, Kapil Dev, Greg Chappell and Ian Chappell and explained that it was the second such intervention within six months.
Its report also placed the appeal within the controversy surrounding Khan’s brief examination at a government hospital and subsequent return to Adiala Jail.
Read the Associated Press report
Because AP is one of the world’s largest news agencies, its report was subsequently carried by publications across different countries and continents.
Editorial note: the AP dispatch describes the group as 22 former captains. The signed letter provided for this article contains 21 names, and multiple other international reports likewise identify 21 former captains.
The Washington Post Carries the Appeal in the United States
The AP report was also published by The Washington Post, bringing the cricket captains’ appeal before a major American and international readership.
Its headline similarly emphasised that cricket captains from around the world had renewed their intervention over Imran Khan’s medical treatment.
Read the report in The Washington Post
The significance goes beyond sports coverage.
It means an appeal originally written by Khan’s former cricketing colleagues has now entered the wider international discussion surrounding his imprisonment and treatment.
The Australian: Border, Chappell and Waugh Join the Appeal
The story received particularly prominent attention in Australia, where Imran Khan spent decades competing against some of the country’s greatest cricketers.
The Australian highlighted the involvement of legendary Australian captains including:
- Ian Chappell
- Greg Chappell
- Allan Border
- Steve Waugh
Its coverage focused on their concern that the Supreme Court-directed medical process had not been completed as ordered.
The Australian participation is notable.
These were once some of Imran Khan’s fiercest opponents on the cricket field.
Decades later, they are collectively asking the Pakistani government to ensure that their former rival receives proper medical care.
India: Gavaskar, Kapil Dev and Vengsarkar Join Across the Border
Perhaps one of the most powerful aspects of the appeal is the participation of three legendary former Indian captains:
Sunil Gavaskar
Kapil Dev
Dilip Vengsarkar
India and Pakistan have one of the fiercest sporting and political rivalries in the world.
Yet some of India’s most revered cricketers have placed those differences aside to appeal for the welfare of a former Pakistani captain.
The Indian media responded with extensive coverage.
Times of India: 21 Captains From Nine Cricketing Nations
The Times of India reported that 21 former international captains from nine cricketing nations had written to Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif.
The newspaper highlighted Gavaskar, Kapil Dev and Vengsarkar and explained that the latest letter followed what the captains believed was inadequate implementation of the Supreme Court’s medical directions.
Read The Times of India report
The Times of India followed with a second article devoted specifically to:
“What’s in the Imran Khan letter?”
It broke down the captains’ three requests and reported that the latest appeal had been initiated by former Australian captain Greg Chappell.
Read the Times of India analysis of the three requests
Indian Express: “Imran Khan is 73 years old…”
The Indian Express prominently covered the letter and its concerns about whether the Supreme Court-directed medical process had actually been completed.
Its headline drew attention to Khan’s age and the participation of Kapil Dev, Sunil Gavaskar and other international captains.
The newspaper reproduced the central concern of the letter: Khan was examined for only a few hours by a state-appointed team rather than the board envisaged by the court.
Read The Indian Express report
India Today: Fresh Appeal to Pakistan PM Over Khan’s Health
India Today also reported the appeal, stressing that the 21 former captains were asking Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif to ensure humane treatment and proper medical care.
The report highlighted the demand that the Supreme Court-ordered independent medical assessment and weekly family visits be implemented without interruption.
NDTV: 21 Former Captains Appeal for Imran Khan
NDTV similarly carried the story, highlighting Sunil Gavaskar, Kapil Dev and Dilip Vengsarkar among the group appealing directly to the Pakistani Prime Minister.
The scale of the Indian coverage is significant.
It demonstrates that concern about the treatment of Pakistan’s former captain is capable of crossing even one of world cricket’s deepest national rivalries.
Arab and Muslim-World Media Pick Up the Appeal
The appeal also received significant coverage across the Arab media landscape.
Arab News
Arab News reported that the 21 former international captains had directly asked Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif to:
- allow an independent medical board to examine Khan;
- restore weekly family visits; and
- ensure that required medical treatment is provided without delay.
Arab News subsequently carried an AFP report on the appeal, further extending its reach throughout the Middle East and international wire ecosystem.
Read the AFP report carried by Arab News
From Cricket Story to International Human-Rights Story
Imran Khan’s identity has always crossed boundaries.
Before he became Prime Minister of Pakistan, he spent two decades as one of the most recognisable figures in international cricket.
He captained Pakistan against many of the very men who have now signed this appeal.
They competed fiercely.
They represented different countries.
Some played for Pakistan’s greatest cricketing rivals.
But decades later, they are united around a remarkably narrow request:
Whatever Pakistan’s political disputes, Imran Khan should receive the medical care ordered by Pakistan’s own Supreme Court.
That is why the appeal carries unusual moral weight.
The signatories are not members of Imran Khan’s political party.
They are not asking to determine the outcome of his court cases.
They are not demanding that Pakistan accept their political views.
They are asking that the court-ordered medical process be completed and that a former colleague be treated humanely.
A Second Appeal — and a Growing International Question
The latest letter also reveals something important about the progression of international concern.
Six months ago: 14 former captains wrote.
Now: 21 former captains have signed.
And their intervention is being reported by:
- Al Jazeera
- Associated Press
- The Washington Post
- The Australian
- Times of India
- The Indian Express
- India Today
- NDTV
- Arab News
- AFP
- and numerous other publications carrying international wire coverage.
This is no longer simply a Pakistani cricket story.
Nor is it simply another political statement.
It is an extraordinary collective appeal from some of the most respected figures the sport has produced.
Their Request Is Simple
The final message of the captains’ letter is restrained but powerful.
They hope the matter can be resolved quickly and with the dignity Imran Khan deserves.
Their requests can be reduced to three basic principles:
Let the independent medical board examine him.
Allow the family visits ordered by the Supreme Court.
Provide whatever treatment the doctors recommend.
For men and women who once faced Imran Khan across cricket grounds around the world, this is not about Pakistani party politics.
It is about something more fundamental.
A former colleague is in State custody.
The country’s highest court has ordered a medical process.
Twenty-one former international captains are asking Pakistan to ensure that order is actually carried out.
And now, through international media, the world is hearing their appeal.
