Seven former Australia captains have joined growing calls for humanitarian concerns surrounding Imran Khan’s detention in Pakistan to be addressed.
Allan Border, Greg Chappell, Ian Chappell, Belinda Clark, Kim Hughes, Mark Taylor and Steve Waugh have written to Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong, stressing that their appeal is based on humanitarian grounds rather than politics.
The former captains said they were speaking “not as diplomats or political figures, but as former captains who felt compelled to speak up”.
They also made clear that they were not taking a position on the legal or political case against Khan, who is serving a prison sentence in Pakistan.
Their concern, they said, was about the treatment of anyone held in detention and what they described as “a matter of basic humanity, whatever their politics”.
The latest intervention follows several similar appeals from prominent former cricketers over Khan’s reported health and conditions in detention.
Twenty-two former international captains wrote to Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on 23 August, calling for better medical care for the former Pakistan captain and prime minister.
That letter urged authorities to allow an independent medical assessment involving Khan’s own doctors, ensure weekly family visits ordered by the Supreme Court take place without interruption and provide any treatment recommended by the medical assessment without delay.
The latest letter to Wong also referred to concerns raised publicly by Khan’s sons and sisters over his health and access to medical care, family members and legal counsel.
The former Australia captains’ latest appeal is not their first involvement in the matter. A group of 14 former international captains had already written in February, while former Pakistan players Javed Miandad, Wasim Akram and Moin Khan have also spoken publicly in support of Khan.
Current Australia captain Pat Cummins has likewise expressed concern over the situation.
Greg Chappell also sought a meeting with Wong last month to discuss the issue on behalf of the group, but has yet to receive a response.
The latest intervention adds another high-profile voice to the international cricket community’s calls for greater attention to Khan’s welfare while he remains in detention.
