Kapil Dev, Sunil Gavaskar Among 21 Former Captains Seeking Court-Ordered Medical Care for Imran Khan

Former India captains Kapil Dev, Sunil Gavaskar and Dilip Vengsarkar have joined an international appeal asking Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif to ensure that imprisoned former Pakistan captain and prime minister Imran Khan receives a complete, court-directed medical assessment.

The letter, dated August 23, brings together 21 former international captains from nine cricket-playing countries. Initiated by former Australia captain Greg Chappell, it follows an earlier appeal signed by 14 captains in February 2026.

The signatories emphasise that they are not taking a position on Pakistan’s legal proceedings against Khan. Their intervention is focused on whether the medical process directed by the country’s Supreme Court has been completed properly and whether recommended treatment and family visits are being provided.

What the Former Captains Have Requested

The letter makes three specific requests.

First, the captains want the medical board directed by Pakistan’s Supreme Court including Khan’s personal doctors to be permitted to conduct a complete and independent assessment of his health. They refer particularly to his family and legal team’s claim that he has suffered a significant loss of vision in his right eye.

Second, they ask that weekly family visits restored by the court be allowed without interruption or administrative delay.

Third, they request that any treatment recommended by the medical assessment be provided promptly.

“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,” the letter states.

The captains add that they believe every cricket-playing nation would recognise that request as fair.

Why the Letter Was Renewed Now

The latest appeal follows Khan’s brief transfer from Adiala Jail for a medical examination in Islamabad.

Pakistan’s Supreme Court had directed the authorities to move him to a hospital and provide access to a medical panel that included relevant specialists and his personal physician. The order followed sustained concern from his family and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf over his health, particularly his eyesight.

Khan was examined and returned to prison within hours after doctors declared him medically fit.

The former captains’ letter says the examination was conducted by a state-appointed team rather than the full board contemplated by the court order. It notes that Khan’s family and lawyers believe the process fell short of the court’s directions.

That position is an attributed claim, not an independently established medical conclusion. The captains are not declaring Khan critically ill; they are asking for the disputed medical process to be completed by the specified board.

Pakistan Government Rejects Medical-Neglect Allegations

The Pakistani government has rejected allegations that Khan is being denied healthcare or subjected to mistreatment.

According to the federal Information Ministry’s account, Khan has undergone approximately 30 examinations by doctors and medical boards from several institutions. Officials said specialists who assessed him during the recent hospital visit found him medically fit and reported that his eye condition had improved.

The government has also disputed allegations of punitive solitary confinement and denied that Khan has been deprived of basic facilities. It says he has received extensive access to lawyers, relatives and doctors since his imprisonment and is provided with home-cooked food, exercise facilities, reading material and television.

Officials cited security concerns when explaining decisions concerning the location and management of his hospital examination. Khan’s party and family contest parts of the government’s account and have accused the authorities of failing to follow the Supreme Court’s directions.

No independent public medical assessment available to The Celebrity Hour conclusively resolves these competing claims.

Who Signed the Appeal?

The published list of 21 signatories includes:

• Michael Atherton

• Alex Blackwell

• Allan Border

• Michael Brearley

• Greg Chappell

• Ian Chappell

• Belinda Clark

• Alastair Cook

• 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

The group includes former men’s and women’s international captains from India, Australia, England, New Zealand, the West Indies and Sri Lanka.

Some subsequent coverage, including an Associated Press dispatch, described the group as comprising 22 former captains. A version of the list published by Sky News also included former England captain Michael Gatting, producing a total of 22 names. However, the letter’s heading and the version confirmed by multiple signatories refer to 21 captains.

Editors should use “21 former captains” when referring specifically to the August 23 letter while noting that an additional name may have been associated with the appeal after its initial circulation.

This Is the Second Cricket-Led Intervention

In February, 14 former captains wrote to Sharif’s government expressing concern about Khan’s reported vision deterioration and conditions in custody.

Seven additional captains joined the renewed appeal, according to the August letter. Its writers explain that they are acting as former colleagues and rivals connected by cricket rather than as political representatives.

The Indian participation is particularly notable because relations between India and Pakistan remain politically strained and bilateral cricket between the two countries is limited. Kapil, Gavaskar and Vengsarkar competed against Khan during one of the most closely followed periods of India-Pakistan cricket.

Their involvement does not constitute an intervention by the Indian government or the Board of Control for Cricket in India. It is a personal humanitarian appeal signed by retired international captains.

Imran Khan’s Journey From Cricket Captain to Prisoner

Khan played 88 Tests and 175 One-Day Internationals for Pakistan between 1971 and 1992. His defining sporting achievement came when he captained Pakistan to victory at the 1992 Cricket World Cup.

After retiring, he founded Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf and served as Pakistan’s prime minister from August 2018 until April 2022, when his government was removed through a parliamentary no-confidence vote.

He has been imprisoned since August 2023 and remains in custody following convictions in legal cases, including the Al-Qadir Trust case. Khan and PTI describe the cases as politically motivated. Pakistan’s government and military deny targeting him for political reasons.

The former captains’ current letter does not ask Sharif to overturn a conviction, release Khan or decide the merits of those cases.

The Celebrity Hour Take

The significance of the appeal lies in how carefully it separates humanitarian treatment from political endorsement.

The signatories are not asking readers to agree with Imran Khan’s politics or accept his account of the cases against him. Their narrower argument is that a 73-year-old prisoner should receive the medical assessment ordered by the country’s highest court, followed by any treatment that assessment recommends.

Cricket provides the group with a shared language across national and political divisions. Several signatories competed intensely against Khan, but their letter argues that sporting rivalry does not cancel respect once a former opponent’s welfare is in question.

The next meaningful development will not be another celebrity endorsement. It will be clear evidence that the court-directed medical board has completed its examination or an authoritative legal explanation for why the process was changed.

Sources & Verification

This report was prepared using the August 23 letter attributed to the former captains, coverage quoting its complete requests and signatory list, Reuters reporting based on the Supreme Court order and the Pakistani government’s publicly reported response to allegations of medical neglect. Claims made by Khan’s family and PTI were attributed and presented alongside the government’s denials. No independent medical conclusion about Khan’s present condition has been made.