In Jail, Imran Khan Is Losing Vision: Why Clive Lloyd, Border, Kapil Dev And Gavaskar Had To Remind Pakistan What Decency Means

Islamabad: At least 21 former international cricket captains have come together to issue a fresh plea to Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, asking his government to ensure humane treatment and proper medical care for former Pakistani skipper and PM Imran Khan. The remarkable show of solidarity by cricket legends across the globe has clearly embarrassed the Shehbaz government in Islamabad.

The written appeal was sent on August 23 amid mounting worries about the 73-year-old's health, following a court-directed medical examination that ended up being a farce. Imran Khan, who has now spent over three years in custody, is at the centre of a second such letter. Earlier, 6 months ago, 14 former captains had written a similar appeal, and now 7 more big names have joined, presumably because the first polite request was treated with the usual bureaucratic disdain.

In their letter to Shehbaz, the former greats were at pains to point out that they were intervening not as politicians but as old colleagues and rivals who share a bond forged on the cricket field, a bond that apparently transcends the borders and petty political insecurities that too often drive decision-making in Islamabad.

Supreme Court Order Given A Quick Bypass

The group specifically referred to an order of the Supreme Court of Pakistan which had directed that Khan be shifted to a hospital for examination by a medical board that was to include his personal physicians and his sister, Dr Uzma Khan. The court had also been decent enough to reinstate weekly family visits.

"Pakistan's Supreme Court ordered that Imran Khan be transferred to a hospital for examination by a medical board that was to include his own personal physicians and his sister, Dr Uzma Khan. The Court also reinstated weekly family visits. These were very welcome steps," the captains noted.