‘I miss him a lot; he is my mentor’: Wasim Akram breaks silence on Imran Khan’s health

Former Pakistan captain and bowling great Wasim Akram is the latest high-profile player to comment on Imran Khan’s deteriorating health. Having played with and under Imran and won Pakistan’s only 50-over World Cup in 1992, Wasim called his mentor Imran a friend, adding that he misses him a lot and hasn’t spoken with him in three years. After several of his former teammates, including Javed Miandad, Moin Khan and others, demanded medical attention for the former captain, Wasim joined a growing chorus of international figures, adding that whatever has happened to him has been unfortunate.

"He's my friend, I miss him a lot," Akram said in an exclusive chat with The Athletic. "I haven't spoken to him for three years. It's so unfortunate, politically, what's happening with him. The court of law is the court of law. But as far as his health is concerned, there can be no compromise on that."

Meanwhile, 22 international captains wrote an open letter to Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, asking for Imran’s basic dignity and needs to be respected, including allowing him access to his personal doctor and his family members. While Australian Test captain Pat Cummins also became the first active cricketer to speak in support of Imran Khan, who has been behind bars at Adiala Jail in Rawalpindi since late 2023, batting giant Brian Lara took to his social media to call Imran a ‘legend of our game’, who deserved basic humanity.

Akram on Sky Sports Interview Controversy

Just ahead of the start of the second Test between England and Pakistan at Lord's, Sky Sports interviewed Imran Khan’s sons, Sulaiman and Kasim, and teased its telecast during lunch on day one. That decision created quite a stir in Pakistan, as reports suggesting that the touring team decided not to take the field after lunch, should the interview go live, began making headlines.

With PTV in Pakistan using Sky’s live feed for telecasting the Test series, they did not run the interview after the first session and instead ran commercials for nearly half an hour.

Speaking on the reaction back home to that interview, Wasim said, "There was a bit of uproar here [in Pakistan] after that. I then read that the Pakistani government came up with how many visits Imran has had, with all the numbers included, with all the phone calls he has had. But, you know, it's difficult to believe, and hard to know what to believe right now.

"Even after we retired, him and me, we were regularly in touch. I used to go and spend time with him. I miss talking to him. I miss him in general as a friend, politics apart,” Akram said.

Setting aside politics and vendettas, Wasim said he spoke from his heart, and as a friend, about Imran.

"There's a movement in England and elsewhere [to improve Imran's conditions], but here [in Pakistan]? I'm not so sure," said Wasim. "I'm speaking from the heart as someone who is worried about him as a person. Convicted or not convicted. Jail or no jail. We need to safeguard his health. We don't know what's happening; the government are saying his health apparently is fine. But I'm worried. I miss him a lot,” he continued.