Twenty-one cricket captains request PM Sharif’s government to ensure Khan is given timely and independent medical care.

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Pakistan’s imprisoned former prime minister and cricket captain, Imran Khan, must be given “humane treatment and proper medical care”, urge a group of cricket greats in a letter seen by Al Jazeera and addressed to Pakistan’s current Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif.

Twenty-one former captains from around the world have appealed to Sharif’s government to allow an independent assessment of Khan’s health, reinstate his weekly family visits and provide him with the required medical treatment without delay, four signatories of the letter confirmed to Al Jazeera late on Sunday.

Khan, 73, has been imprisoned for the past three years on a range of charges.

On Tuesday, Pakistan’s Supreme Court ordered local authorities to transfer Khan from Adiala jail to the privately run Shifa International Hospital by midnight on Thursday. However on Saturday, Khan’s party, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), filed a contempt petition against the government after he was sent to a state-run hospital instead of the private facility ordered by the top court, party officials said.

Khan is widely regarded as one of the world’s greatest-ever all-rounders and arguably Pakistan’s greatest cricketer, who led his nation to its first World Cup win in 1992 and holds the record for most international wins for a Pakistani captain.

Khan’s former cricket adversaries turned friends said the recent events prompted them to pen a letter to Sharif, who replaced the PTI founder as prime minister in April 2022 and again after Pakistan’s last general election in February 2024.

The letter, dated August 23, follows similar outreach in February by 14 former international cricket captains who raised concerns over Khan’s deteriorating health and alleged mistreatment during his imprisonment.

“We wrote then not as politicians, but as former colleagues and rivals who share a bond forged on the cricket field — one that transcends the borders and disputes that too often divide countries,” said the letter.

“We write again now — joined by seven further former captains — because of what has reportedly just occurred,” read the letter, whose signatories include cricket Hall of Famers Sunil Gavaskar, Kapil Dev, Clive Lloyd, Allan Border, Greg Chappell, Ian Chappell, John Wright and David Gower.

Greg Chappell, who shared a friendly bond with Khan following their retirement from cricket, initiated the letter on both occasions.

Lloyd told Al Jazeera on Sunday that he contributed to the letter. Former England captains David Gower, Nasser Hussain and Michael Atherton also confirmed signing it.

Notably, no former Pakistani cricketers were among the signatories of both letters, although several star players have publicly voiced concerns over Khan’s health in the past.

Gavaskar, Dev and Dilip Vengsarkar are the three Indian players among the 21, while former Sri Lanka captain, Arjuna Ranatunga, is the other South Asian name.

Former Australian women’s team captains Alex Blackwell and Belinda Clark are also on the list of signatories.

The letter praised the “welcome steps” of the Supreme Court ordering Khan’s transfer to a private hospital for medical examination by a board that included personal physicians and his sister, Dr Uzma Khan.

The signatories requested the government that:

The former cricketers lamented Khan’s short-lived hospital visit. They reiterated the concerns raised by his family, who said the examination by a state-appointed team and swift return after being declared “medically fit” fell short of what the Supreme Court ordered.

“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 said.

“It is one we believe every nation that plays this game would recognise as fair.”

The Pakistan government did not respond to Al Jazeera’s request for a comment.

Full list of signatories: 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 Nikhanj, Deshamanya Arjuna Ranatunga, Sir Andrew Strauss, Dilip Vengsarkar, Stephen Waugh, John Wright.

Following the first appeal made to the Pakistani government in February, Greg Chappell wrote and spoke about his bond with Khan and what prompted him to take the lead in writing the letter.

He said that the letter was meant to highlight a human rights issue rather than be a political intervention and admitted being pleasantly surprised at how quickly it came together since everyone was in the same boat.

“This seems to have had some real impact,” Chappell said as he emphasised the need for the first letter to have “long-lasting impact” rather than fizzle out in the next news cycle.

The former Australian captain praised the charisma Khan wielded both on the field as a cricketer and later when he entered politics.

“People were threatened by someone like Imran because of his aura, personal power and charm,” he told the Cricket Et Al podcast in February.

“They were threatened by him and obviously that’s played its part in this.”