Arjuna Ranatunga Joins Gavaskar, Waugh in Fresh Appeal Over Imran Khan's Health

Twenty-two former international captains from around the world have written another letter to Pakistan's prime minister Shehbaz Sharif, renewing their appeal for the medical treatment of former captain Imran Khan following recent developments that they say fall short of a Supreme Court directive.

"Pakistan's Supreme Court ordered that Imran 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," the letter says.

"The Court also reinstated weekly family visits. These were very welcome steps. Concerningly, 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, declared "medically fit," and returned to Adiala Jail before that board could complete its work."

Their letter makes three specific requests:

-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.

The latest letter is the former captains' second appeal to Pakistan's Prime Minister in six months. In February earlier this year, 14 former captains had written, expressing deep concern for Khan's health following reports of an eye complaint that Imran's family said has left him almost completely blinded in one eye amid accusations of medical neglect in prison.

The signatories, who describe themselves as writing "not as politicians, but as former colleagues and rivals who share a bond forged on the cricket field," are careful to note that they do not seek to adjudicate Pakistan's domestic legal processes.

The 22 signatories on the letter include Greg Chappell, Ian Chappell, Allan Border, Sunil Gavaskar, David Gower, Clive Lloyd, Arjuna Ranatunga, Steve Waugh and John Wright among others.

Khan, who served as Pakistan's prime minister from 2018 to 2022, was sentenced to a slew of prison sentences after his removal from the top office. These include corruption charges that have landed him 10, 14 and 17 year sentences.  Ahead of the 2024 elections, he was also sentenced to seven years in prison for getting married to his current wife without waiting an appropriate period of time after her divorce.

Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and the International Federation of Human Rights are among the organisations to have expressed concern over the fairness of his trial and the state of his conditions in prison. His sons have said Imran remains in a "death cell" where he has been subjected to psychological torture. The Pakistan government has repeatedly denied all such claims.

List of signatories:

Michael Atherton, Alex Blackwell, Allan Border, Michael Brearley, Greg Chappell, Ian Chappell, Belinda Clark, Alastair Cook, Michael Gatting, Sunil Gavaskar, Lee Germon, Adam Gilchrist, David Gower, Kim Hughes, Nasser Hussain, Clive Lloyd, Kapil Dev, Arjuna Ranatunga, Andrew Strauss, Dilip Vengsarkar, Steve Waugh, John Wright

Source: Cricinfo