Mumbai: Former Australia captain and India head coach Greg Chappell has stepped up his efforts to secure fair medical treatment and welfare for former Pakistan Prime Minister and 1992 World Cup-winning captain Imran Khan.As part of Chappell’s latest initiative, seven former Australia captains have approached Foreign Minister Penny Wong over humanitarian concerns surrounding Imran’s detention in Pakistan. They have urged the Australian Government to raise the matter directly with the relevant Pakistani authorities.The letter, a copy of which is with TOI, was signed by Allan Border, Greg Chappell, Ian Chappell, Belinda Clark, Kim Hughes, Mark Taylor and Steve Waugh. They stressed that they were writing “not as diplomats or political actors, but as former Australian captains who felt we should speak up.”The group said it was taking no position on the legal or political case against Imran, which it described as a matter for Pakistan. Their concern, they said, was the treatment of anyone in detention, calling it “a matter of basic humanity, whatever their politics.”The former captains highlighted concerns raised publicly by Imran’s sons and sisters over his health and treatment, including limited medical care, restricted family contact and minimal access to legal counsel.The letter also referred to Chappell’s last meeting with Imran in Islamabad in 2022, when he was Pakistan’s prime minister and, according to Chappell, “hale, hearty and fit.”“Greg Chappell last saw Imran Khan in Islamabad in 2022, when Khan was Prime Minister — hale, hearty and fit, by his account. It is hard to reconcile that image with the reports now coming out of his detention, and that is why we write to you today, not as diplomats or political actors, but as former Australian captains who felt we should speak up. Khan led Pakistan to its only World Cup title. He also led his country as Prime Minister. Australians hold him in great regard — as a cricketer whose skill and leadership left a lasting mark on the game we share, and as someone who has helped improve the lives of Pakistanis by building cancer hospitals.”“Beyond credible reports, his own sons and sisters have been pleading publicly for months over his health and treatment in detention — limited medical care, restricted family contact, and minimal access to legal counsel among their concerns.”The letter concluded: “This is not the first time international captains have raised this concern. It has been brought to public attention on two separate occasions in the past six months, and the reports since then — now echoed by his own family — suggest the situation has not improved. We would be grateful if the Australian Government could raise this directly with the relevant Pakistani authorities. Mr Chappell has also requested a meeting with you on this matter over recent weeks, and would welcome the chance to discuss it with you directly on our behalf. Thank you for taking the time to consider this.”The appeal comes weeks after 21 former international captains from nine cricketing nations, including India’s Sunil Gavaskar, Kapil Dev and Dilip Vengsarkar, wrote to Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Aug 23 over Imran’s medical treatment and welfare.That letter, a follow-up to one signed by 14 former captains in February, followed developments that the group said fell short of a Supreme Court directive on Imran’s treatment. The court had ordered that Khan be transferred to hospital for examination by a medical board including his own physicians and his sister, Dr Uzma Khan, alongside reinstated weekly family visits.The 73-year-old Imran has been in jail for more than three years following his tenure as Pakistan’s prime minister and is currently facing severe health issues.Since the first letter, Imran’s former Pakistan teammates, including a tearful Javed Miandad, Wasim Akram and Moin Khan, have spoken out, as has current Australia captain Pat Cummins.Chappell had also requested a meeting with Wong last month to discuss the matter on behalf of the group but has yet to receive a response.
