Global cricket icons join Javed Miandad in urging freedom for Imran Khan

Former Pakistan cricket icon Javed Miandad has tearfully demanded the release of imprisoned former Prime Minister Imran Khan, highlighting his contributions to the nation. Miandad’s emotional plea aligns with an international petition signed by 21 cricket legends expressing concern over Khan's health

New Delhi: Former Pakistan cricketer Javed Miandad came out in support of imprisoned former Pakistan captain and Prime Minister Imran Khan, calling for his release. Miandad can be said to be the first high-profile Pakistani cricketer to comment on Imran’s imprisonment publicly.

In an interview on the Narratives podcast, Miandad reminded that Imran has “given Pakistan so much” and called for his “release”. “There’s so much respect in the world for Imran. He has given Pakistan so much. We should think about that. We need to bury the hatchet. He’s a former prime minister… God forbid, if something happens to him in jail, all of Pakistan will weep. And at that time, they will all ask why they did this to Imran,” Miandad said.

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“Just release him; what difference does it make to you? If something like this can happen to one of us, we’ll all be upset. If something like this is happening to my brother, of course I’ll be upset,” he added.

Miandad said that he thinks about Imran “all the time” and that he “does not deserve” what is happening to him. “I pray that what’s going on with him gets resolved, because he does not deserve this,” Miandad said as he broke down in tears. “What’s being done to him is not right. It’s unnecessary. He has a family too.

“I think about it all the time, what he must be doing (in prison), what he must be thinking of. We were so close. We used to be together and think so much of each other. We took Pakistan to such new heights. I can’t help but feel so sad about it.”

Both Imran and Miandad were lynchpins in the Pakistan side in the 1980s and 1990s, having powered them to a strong period, during which they also won their only ODI World Cup in 1992. The two have also played county cricket together as Miandad spoke on his relationship with Imran, brushing aside the notions of a bitter rivalry.

“There was no rivalry between me and Imran. There was no fight between us. I’ve never complained that Imran wronged me in any way. I had a great career which I am very thankful for. Imran and I played county cricket together too; we were together for more than half the year, either in county cricket or with Pakistan. We had a great time together,” he said.

Recently, Australia legend Greg Chappell and current Aussie Test and ODI skipper Pat Cummins put their weight behind Imran, asking for the treatment of the former captain in jail. In the petition raised by Chappell and addressed to Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, which includes signatures from Sunil Gavaskar, Kapil Dev and Dilip Vengsarkar, it has urged Pakistani authorities to grant family access and independent medical checks for Khan.

“Adding my support here to GC and the other former international captains. I hope the court-ordered medical assessment be allowed to run its course and that family visits continue. I hope Imran Khan is treated with the dignity anyone deserves,” Cummins wrote on his ‘X’ account on Friday.

The petition was signed by 21 former international captains, including Sir Alastair Cook, Michael Atherton, Steve Waugh, Adam Gilchrist, and Nasser Hussain, and expressed grave concern over Khan’s health, particularly reports regarding significant vision loss in his right eye, after he spent over three years in custody.

“Imran Khan is 73 years old and has now spent more than three years in custody. 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 stated.

The signatories laid out three primary demands: a comprehensive health evaluation by a Supreme Court-directed medical board that includes Khan’s personal physicians, uninterrupted weekly family visitation rights, and immediate implementation of any recommended medical treatment.