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Cricket
Imran Khan, photographed in 2019 during his time as Pakistan's prime minister Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
By Paul Newman and Dominic Fifield
Aug. 28, 2026 Updated 12:28 pm GMT+5:30
Last week, 21 high-profile former international cricket captains — including Atherton, Nasser Hussain, Greg Chappell, Steve Waugh and India’s Sunil Gavaskar and Kapil Dev — wrote a letter to Pakistan’s prime minister Shehbaz Sharif urging him to ensure Imran receives proper healthcare in prison. That correspondence was a follow-up to a previous missive penned by 14 captains back in February which went unanswered by the Pakistan government.
What You Should Read Next
The imprisonment of Imran Khan: ‘It’s hard to know, in the dark hours, what he’s going through’
The charismatic cricketer turned politician was imprisoned in Rawalpindi in 2023 and now has only sporadic contact with his family
The Pakistan government rejected allegations that Khan had been mistreated in prison or denied contact with his family and lawyers in a statement issued to the Associated Press last week, insisting that the former prime minister had received more than 900 visits from his family, lawyers and doctors since his imprisonment began in August 2023
Cricket
Pakistan threatened not to return to play in second Test over Sky Sports interview with Imran Khan’s sons
Imran Khan, photographed in 2019 during his time as Pakistan's prime minister Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
By Paul Newman and Dominic Fifield
Aug. 28, 2026 Updated 12:28 pm GMT+5:30
Pakistan briefly threatened not to return to the field after lunch on the first day of the second Test against England after the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) lodged a formal complaint with Sky Sports for broadcasting an interview with Imran Khan’s sons during the interval at Lord’s.
In the interview, Khan’s sons Kasim and Sulaiman raised concerns about the Pakistan government’s treatment of their father, the country’s former prime minister and World Cup-winning cricket captain, who has been held in solitary confinement for the past three years having been ousted from power in 2022. They said they feared for the 73-year-old’s life.
The 18-minute interview, conducted by former England captain Mike Atherton on Wednesday, took place in the Writers’ Room in the pavilion at Lord’s where a portrait of Imran hangs. It was broadcast during the lunch break at Lord’s on the rain-delayed first day.
The PCB were unhappy with Sky granting the Khans air time — the chairman of the PCB, Mohsin Naqvi, is also Pakistan’s Minister of the Interior — and sought to have the interview pulled. Sky proceeded with the broadcast, prompting PCB officials briefly to threaten to stop their players resuming the game after lunch.
However, talks held with the ECB succeeded in allaying those fears, with Pakistan resuming after the interval and playing out the day before bad light stopped play at around 6pm.
Sky, who are aware of the complaint, declined to comment when approached by The Athletic. Pakistan have been contacted for comment.
Imran’s deteriorating health has drawn focus in recent weeks as his sons, both from his first marriage to Jemima Goldsmith, step up their efforts to secure him proper healthcare having voiced fears he may not survive prison. There have been concerns an eye condition, about which he has been complaining for some time, is worsening to the point that there are fears he may be losing much of the sight in that eye.
Pakistan’s Supreme Court ordered him to be admitted to Shifa International Hospital in Islamabad last week. “We were cautiously optimistic,” Sulaiman told Sky. “(But) our fears were confirmed when instead of being taken to the private hospital, where he was meant to be taken, he was just taken to a government medical facility for a few hours, and then taken straight back to jail.”
Kasim added: “In reality it was an hour check up by government officials who said: ‘Great, he’s OK’ and then said we will now send him to the independent hospital, Shifa. Instead they left all the doctors waiting, our auntie waiting, who is a doctor, and sent him straight back to jail.”
Imran made his international debut for Pakistan back in 1971 and assumed the captaincy in 1982. He took 362 wickets and scored 3,807 runs in his 88 Test matches, and led his country to victory in the 1992 50-over World Cup final against England at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.Last week, 21 high-profile former international cricket captains — including Atherton, Nasser Hussain, Greg Chappell, Steve Waugh and India’s Sunil Gavaskar and Kapil Dev — wrote a letter to Pakistan’s prime minister Shehbaz Sharif urging him to ensure Imran receives proper healthcare in prison. That correspondence was a follow-up to a previous missive penned by 14 captains back in February which went unanswered by the Pakistan government.
What You Should Read Next
The imprisonment of Imran Khan: ‘It’s hard to know, in the dark hours, what he’s going through’
The charismatic cricketer turned politician was imprisoned in Rawalpindi in 2023 and now has only sporadic contact with his family
The Pakistan government rejected allegations that Khan had been mistreated in prison or denied contact with his family and lawyers in a statement issued to the Associated Press last week, insisting that the former prime minister had received more than 900 visits from his family, lawyers and doctors since his imprisonment began in August 2023
