Australia captain Pat Cummins, who also led Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) in the Indian Premier League (IPL), has backed a petition led by several former international cricket captains, including former Australia captain Greg Chappell, calling for dignified treatment and proper medical care for jailed former Pakistan captain and Prime Minister Imran Khan.
The petition, led by Chappell and addressed to Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, has also been signed by former India captains Sunil Gavaskar, Kapil Dev and Dilip Vengsarkar. It calls on Pakistani authorities to allow Khan’s family to visit him and ensure that he receives independent medical examinations.
Cummins showed his support for the appeal on Friday through a post on X.
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 https://t.co/L1L512wXao
— Pat Cummins (@patcummins30) August 28, 2026
"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 has been signed by 21 former international captains, including Sir Alastair Cook, Michael Atherton, Steve Waugh, Adam Gilchrist and Nasser Hussain. The former players have expressed serious concern about Khan’s health, especially reports that he has suffered major vision problems in his right eye during his more than three years in custody.
Recommended For You
"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 former captains have made three main requests. They want Khan to undergo a complete medical examination by a Supreme Court-directed medical board that includes his personal doctors. They are also asking for his weekly family visits to continue without interruption and for any medical treatment recommended by the doctors to be provided immediately.
The signatories described themselves as ‘former colleagues and rivals who share a bond forged on the cricket field’ that ‘transcends the borders and disputes that too often divide countries’.
Imran Khan, who led Pakistan to their first Men’s ODI World Cup title in 1992, became the country’s prime minister in 2018. He was removed from office in 2022 and has been in jail since August 2023 after being convicted in several cases. His party and supporters have repeatedly said that the cases against him are politically motivated.
The latest appeal comes after controversy over Khan’s recent medical examination. He was examined by a government-appointed medical team at a government facility instead of being taken to a private hospital, where his own doctors could examine him. This was despite an order from Pakistan’s Supreme Court calling for his medical assessment.
Chappell also spoke about Khan’s health recently on The Grade Cricketer podcast. He said he was deeply worried about the former Pakistan captain’s condition.
"I mean, 73 years of age, so obviously, you know, he’s getting older, but I met up with him in Pakistan six years ago, and he was still a strong, robust older man. That’s not the case anymore. His right eye apparently has developed a disability… he’s struggling. He’s been in isolation for three years.
“At the moment, he’s not getting any better. From a physical point of view, it’s hard to get information, but I saw a video clip the other day, I’m assuming of his latest trip to hospital, where he was put into a wheelchair to get him from wherever he was to wherever he was going. He didn’t look well at all. He didn’t look robust. He didn’t look like he could really get around very much.
“I don’t think he is allowed to read books. He’s pretty much just got to sit there by himself. And he’s in the dark most of the time. So that’s not good for your mental health. And as your mental health deteriorates, your physical health is going to deteriorate. Imran is as strong physically and mentally as anyone that I played cricket against. But I don’t know how you deal with absolute isolation for three years.”