LONDON: Pakistan cricket great Wasim Akram has urged authorities to give Imran Khan, his jailed former captain and ex-prime minister, “fair treatment”.

Imran, 73, has been imprisoned since 2023 and was sentenced late last year along with his wife to 17 years on corruption charges they both deny.

During lunch on the first day of the recent second Test between England and Pakistan at Lord’s, Sky Sports broadcast an interview conducted by former England captain Michael Atherton with Imran’s sons, Kasim and Sulaiman.

During the interview, they criticised their father’s treatment by Pakistani authorities in stark terms.

Some reports suggested the Pakistan Cricket Board was so angered by the broadcast they considered refusing to let their team take the field after the interval.

No boycott ensued, however, and the match — which Pakistan eventually lost by 194 runs to go 2-0 down in a three-match series — continued as scheduled.

In August, Atherton was one of a group of 21 former international cricket captains, including India’s Sunil Gavaskar and Kapil Dev, pleading for Imran to be treated humanely and with “basic human consideration” by Pakistani authorities.

Wasim told the ‘Old Boys, New Balls’ podcast, co-hosted by another ex-England captain in Ian Botham: “We would like to thank all the captains that recently signed a petition for Imran.

“I feel for [the] skipper, I miss him as a friend, I miss him as a mentor, we miss him as a leader. We haven’t seen his picture for three years,” added the left-arm pacer who was a key member of the Pakistan team led by Imran that won the 1992 World Cup in Australia.

“What we want from this government is to give him [Imran] the fair treatment, like other politicians had before.

“Fingers are crossed, Inshallah [God willing] the whole nation is behind him and he’ll be out [soon].”

Published in Dawn, September 9th, 2026