'Imran Khan’s Health cannot be compromised': Wasim Akram takes stand for jailed former skipper

From Pakistan’s cricketing heroes to global legends, an extraordinary cricketing chorus is demanding that Imran Khan’s health and dignity be protected behind bars. A growing international campaign surrounding Imran Khan’s health and treatment in prison has turned into one of the most striking interventions by cricketing figures in recent memory.

The former Pakistan captain has been imprisoned since August 2023 amid a series of legal cases, including corruption-related convictions that Khan and his supporters have described as politically motivated. But the cricketing figures now speaking out are largely drawing a line between politics and humanitarian concerns.

One of the recent voices to emerge from Pakistan is former fast-bowling superstar Wasim Akram, who played under Khan and has described him as a friend, mentor and major influence on his career. Akram expressed deep concern about Khan’s condition and said he has not spoken to him for around three years.

His remarks carried particular emotional weight because they came from someone who shared Pakistan’s greatest cricketing triumph with Khan. Akram said the courts should deal with the legal cases, but medical care is a separate and non-negotiable issue.

Imran Khans Health Cannot Be Compromised Wasim Akram Takes Stand For Jailed Former Skipper

He questioned conflicting reports about Khan’s health and said he remains worried about what is happening to his former captain.

Akram’s intervention places him among a growing group of Pakistani cricket legends including Javed Miandad, Moin Khan, Waqar Younis, Shoaib Akhtar, Shahid Afridi, Basit Ali and Rameez Raja, who have expressed concern about Khan at various points.

Khan’s family and lawyers alleged that he has suffered approximately 85% loss of vision in one eye, which they say resulted from delayed or inadequate treatment while he was being held at Adiala Jail in Rawalpindi. The claim has triggered calls for an independent medical examination.

Authorities have at different times maintained that Khan’s health was satisfactory or had improved after treatment, creating a sharp divide between official assurances and claims from Khan’s family and legal team. That disagreement is precisely why former cricket captains are demanding independent specialists rather than relying solely on competing statements.

In February 2026, the controversy moved onto an international stage. A letter drafted by former Australian captain Greg Chappell was sent to Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif. The signatories called for Khan to receive specialist medical treatment, humane detention conditions, family access and transparent access to legal procedures.

The names behind the appeal read like a who’s who of world cricket.