Former Australian captains join chorus to raise concerns over Imran's detention

• Former Australia captains write to Foreign Minister Penny Wong.
• Group takes no position on Khan’s legal or political case.
• Former captains seek better medical treatment for Imran Khan.

Seven former Australian cricket captains have written to Foreign Minister Penny Wong, raising humanitarian concerns over the detention of former prime minister and cricket captain Imran Khan, ESPN Cricinfo reported.

The letter has been signed by Allan Border, Greg Chappell, Ian Chappell, Belinda Clark, Kim Hughes, Mark Taylor and Steve Waugh.

A three-member SC bench on August 18 ordered Adiala jail authorities to transfer Khan, 73, who has remained in prison since August 2023 following convictions in several cases, to Shifa Hospital for medical assessment and treatment within two days.

However, he was taken to the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS), where doctors from Shifa International Hospital were also present, according to Information Minister Attaullah Tarar. 

In the letter, the former captains said they were making the appeal “not as diplomats or political figures, but as former captains who felt compelled to speak up”.

The cricketers said they were taking no position on the legal or political case against Imran, describing it as a matter for Pakistan. Instead, they said their concern was about the treatment of people in detention, which they described as “a matter of basic humanity, whatever their politics”.

On August 23, 22 former international cricket captains from around the world wrote to Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif seeking improved medical treatment for Khan.

They called for a medical board, including Khan’s own doctors, to complete an independent assessment of his health, particularly reports concerning loss of vision in his right eye. They also called for weekly family visits to be honoured and for any recommended treatment to be provided without delay.

The former captains made three requests in their latest appeal:

• 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.

"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 concluded. 

The latest appeal follows an earlier letter in February signed by 14 former international captains.

Former Pakistan captains Javed Miandad, Wasim Akram and Moin Khan have also expressed concern over Khan’s health, while current Australia captain Pat Cummins has backed calls for medical care.