Sri Lanka’s World Cup-winning former captain Arjuna Ranatunga is among a group of former international cricket captains who have renewed an appeal to Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif over the health and medical treatment of jailed former Pakistan captain and Prime Minister Imran Khan.
The former captains have written to Sharif following recent developments which they say have fallen short of a directive issued by Pakistan’s Supreme Court regarding Khan’s medical examination.
In the letter, the former cricketers said the Supreme Court had ordered that Khan be transferred to hospital for examination by a medical board that included his personal physicians and his sister, Dr. Uzma Khan, while also reinstating weekly family visits.
However, they claimed Khan’s hospital stay lasted only a few hours and that he was examined by a state-appointed team before being declared medically fit and returned to Adiala Jail.
The former captains have made three requests: that the Supreme Court-directed medical board be allowed to conduct a full and independent assessment, particularly regarding the reported loss of vision in Khan’s right eye; that weekly family visits be allowed without interruption; and that any treatment recommended following the assessment be provided without delay.
The signatories said they were writing “not as politicians, but as former colleagues and rivals” and stressed that they were not seeking to intervene in Pakistan’s domestic legal processes.
Among the prominent former captains associated with the appeal are Ranatunga, Sunil Gavaskar, Kapil Dev, Allan Border, Steve Waugh, Greg Chappell, Ian Chappell, Clive Lloyd, Alastair Cook, Adam Gilchrist, Nasser Hussain and David Gower.
It is the second such appeal to the Pakistan Prime Minister within six months. An earlier letter in February raised concerns over Khan’s health following reports of an eye condition and allegations of inadequate medical treatment in prison. (Newswire)