IMRAN KHAN NIAZI
Imran Khan (
Urdu:
عِمران خان) (born
Imran Khan Niazi (
Urdu:
عِمران خان نِیازی) on 5 October 1952
[1][2]) is a Pakistani politician and former cricketer. He played international cricket for two decades in the late twentieth century and, after retiring, entered politics. Besides his political activism, Khan is also a
philanthropist, cricket commentator, chancellor of the
University of Bradford and founding chairman of the Board of Governors of
Shaukat Khanum Hospital. He also founded
Namal College,
Mianwali in 2008.
He was Pakistan's most successful cricket captain,
[3] leading his country to victory at the
1992 Cricket World Cup, playing for the
Pakistani cricket team from 1971 to 1992, and serving as its
captain intermittently throughout 1982–1992.
[4] After retiring from cricket at the end of the
1987 World Cup in 1988, owing to popular demand he was requested to come back by the president of Pakistan
Zia ul Haq to lead the team once again. At the age of 39, Khan led his team to Pakistan's first and only One Day World Cup victory in 1992. With 3807 runs and 362 wickets in
Test cricket, he is one of eight world cricketers to have achieved an '
All-rounder's Triple' in Test matches.
[5] On 14 July 2010, Khan was inducted into the
ICC Cricket Hall of Fame.
[6]
In April 1996,
Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf ("Movement for Justice") political party was established
[7]and Khan became its chairman. He represented
Mianwali as a member of the
National Assemblyfrom November 2002 to October 2007, he was again elected on 11 May 2013, while his party gained 35 seats in the National Assembly.
[8][9][10] Global Post mentioned him third in a list of nine world leaders of 2012 and recognized Khan as the face of the anti-drone movement in Pakistan.
[11]According to
Asia Society, Khan was voted as Asia’s Person of the Year 2012.
[12] As the
Pew Research Center, in 2012 a majority of Pakistani respondents offered a favorable opinion of Khan. The survey also revealed Khan's fame among youth.
[13]
Personal life
Background
On 16 May 1995, Khan married
Jemima Goldsmith, in a two-minute ceremony conducted in
Urdu in
Paris. A month later, on 21 June, they were married again in a
civil ceremony at the
Richmondregistry office in England.
[22] Jemima converted to Islam. Khan's later decision to join politics alarmed opposition politicians and
intelligence agencies mainly because of Jemima's half Jewish ancestry, this became a point of criticism especially by Islamic parties who alleged that he was related to 'Zionists'. The couple have two sons, Sulaiman Isa and Kasim.
[23]
Rumours circulated that the couple's marriage was in crisis. Jemima denied the rumours by publishing an advertisement in Pakistani newspapers.
[24] On 22 June 2004, it was announced that the couple had divorced, ending the nine-year marriage because it was "difficult for Jemima to adapt to life in Pakistan".
[25][26] Khan now resides alone in
Bani Gala farmhouse.
[27] In November 2009, Khan underwent emergency surgery at Lahore's Shaukat Khanum Cancer Hospital to remove an obstruction in his
small intestine.
[28]
Cricket career
Khan made a lackluster
first-class cricket debut at the age of sixteen in Lahore. By the start of the 1970s, he was playing for his home teams of Lahore A (1969–70), Lahore B (1969–70), Lahore Greens (1970–71) and, eventually, Lahore (1970–71).
[29] Khan was part of
University of Oxford's Blues Cricket team during the 1973–1975 seasons.
[18] At
Worcestershire, where he played county cricket from 1971 to 1976, he was regarded as only an average medium-pace
bowler. During this decade, other teams represented by Khan included Dawood Industries (1975–1976) and Pakistan International Airlines (1975–1976 to 1980–1981). From 1983 to 1988, he played for
Sussex.
[5]
Khan made his test cricket debut against
England in 1971 in the city of
Birmingham. Three years later, he debuted in the
One Day International(ODI) match, once again playing against England at
Nottingham for the Prudential Trophy. After graduating from Oxford and finishing his tenure at Worcestershire, he returned to Pakistan in 1976 and secured a permanent place on his native national team starting from the 1976–1977 season, during which they faced
New Zealand and
Australia.
[29] Following the Australian series, he toured the
West Indies, where he met
Tony Greig, who signed him up for
Kerry Packer's
World Series Cricket.
[5] His credentials as one of the fastest bowlers of the world started to become established when he finished third at 139.7 km/h in a
fast bowling contest at
Perth in 1978, behind
Jeff Thomson and
Michael Holding, but ahead of
Dennis Lillee,
Garth Le Roux and
Andy Roberts.
[5]
As a fast bowler, Khan reached the peak of his powers in 1982. In 9
Tests, he got 62 wickets at 13.29 each, the lowest average of any bowler in Test history with at least 50 wickets in a calendar year.
[30] In January 1983, playing against
India, he attained a Test bowling rating of 922 points. Although calculated retrospectively (ICC player ratings did not exist at the time), Khan's form and performance during this period ranks third in the
ICC's All-Time Test Bowling Rankings.
[31]
Khan achieved the all-rounder's triple (securing 3000 runs and 300 wickets) in 75 Tests, the second fastest record behind
Ian Botham's 72. He is also established as having the second highest all-time batting average of 61.86 for a Test batsman playing at position 6 of the batting order.
[32]He played his last Test match for Pakistan in January 1992, against
Sri Lanka at
Faisalabad. Khan retired permanently from cricket six months after his last ODI, the historic 1992 World Cup final against England in
Melbourne,
Australia.
[33][not in citation given] He ended his career with 88 Test matches, 126 innings and scored 3807 runs at an average of 37.69, including six centuries and 18 fifties. His highest score was 136 runs. As a bowler, he took 362 wickets in Test cricket, which made him the first Pakistani and world's fourth bowler to do so.
[5] In ODIs, he played 175 matches and scored 3709 runs at an average of 33.41. His highest score remains 102 not out. His best ODI bowling is documented at 6 wickets for 14 runs.
Captaincy
At the height of his career, in 1982, the thirty-year-old Khan took over the captaincy of the Pakistan cricket team from
Javed Miandad.
[34] As a captain, Khan played 48 Test matches, out of which 14 were won by Pakistan, 8 lost and the rest of 26 were drawn. He also played 139 ODIs, winning 77, losing 57 and ending one in a tie.
[5]
In the team's second match, Khan led them to their first Test win on English soil for 28 years at
Lord's.
[35] Khan's first year as captain was the peak of his legacy as a fast bowler as well as an all-rounder. He recorded the best Test bowling of his career while taking 8 wickets for 58 runs against Sri Lanka at Lahore in 1981–1982.
[5] He also topped both the bowling and batting averages against England in three Test series in 1982, taking 21 wickets and averaging 56 with the bat. Later the same year, he put up a highly acknowledged performance in a home series against the formidable
Indian team by taking 40 wickets in six Tests at an average of 13.95. By the end of this series in 1982–1983, Khan had taken 88 wickets in 13 Test matches over a period of one year as captain.
[29]
Imran Khan's test career bowling statistics
This same Test series against India, however, also resulted in a stress fracture in his shin that kept him out of cricket for more than two years. An experimental treatment funded by the Pakistani government helped him recover by the end of 1984 and he made a successful comeback to international cricket in the latter part of the 1984–1985 season.
[5]
In India in 1987, Khan led Pakistan in its first ever test series win and this was followed by Pakistan's first series victory in England during the same year.
[35] During the 1980s, his team also recorded three creditable draws against the West Indies. India and Pakistan co-hosted the 1987 World Cup, but neither ventured beyond the semi-finals. Khan retired from international cricket at the end of the World Cup. In 1988, he was asked to return to the captaincy by the
president Of Pakistan, General
Zia-Ul-Haq, and on 18 January, he announced his decision to rejoin the team.
[5] Soon after returning to the captaincy, Khan led Pakistan to another winning tour in the West Indies, which he has recounted as "the last time I really bowled well".
[15] He was declared Man of the Series against West Indies in 1988 when he took 23 wickets in 3 tests.
[5]
Khan's career-high as a captain and cricketer came when he led Pakistan to victory in the
1992 Cricket World Cup. Playing with a brittle batting line-up, Khan promoted himself as a batsman to play in the top order along with Javed Miandad, but his contribution as a bowler was minimal. At the age of 39, Khan took the winning last wicket himself.
[29]
Post-retirement
In 1994, Khan had admitted that, during Test matches, he "occasionally scratched the side of the ball and lifted the seam." He had also added, "Only once did I use an object. When Sussex were playing Hampshire in 1981 the ball was not deviating at all. I got the 12th man to bring out a bottle top and it started to move around a lot."
[36] In 1996, Khan successfully defended himself in a
libel action brought forth by former English captain and all-rounder
Ian Botham and batsman
Allan Lamb over comments they alleged were made by Khan in two articles about the above-mentioned
ball-tampering and another article published in an Indian magazine,
India Today. They claimed that, in the latter publication, Khan had called the two cricketers "racist, ill-educated and lacking in class." Khan protested that he had been misquoted, saying that he was defending himself after having admitted that he tampered with a ball in a county match 18 years ago.
[37] Khan won the libel case, which the judge labelled a "complete exercise in futility", with a 10–2 majority decision by the jury.
[37]
Since retiring, Khan has written opinion pieces on cricket for various
British and
Asian newspapers, especially regarding the Pakistani national team. His contributions have been published in India's
Outlook magazine,
[38] the
Guardian, the
Independent, and the
Telegraph. Khan also sometimes appears as a cricket commentator on Asian and British sports networks, including
BBC Urdu and the Star TV network.
[41] In 2004, when the Indian cricket team toured Pakistan after 14 years, he was a commentator on
TEN Sports' special live show,
Straight Drive,
[42] while he was also a columnist for
sify.com for the
2005 India-Pakistan Test series.
[43] He has provided analysis for every cricket World Cup since 1992, which includes providing match summaries for the
BBC during the
1999 World Cup.
[43] He holds as a captain the world record for taking most wickets, best bowling strike rate and best bowling average in test,
[44] [45] and best bowling figures (8 wickets for 60 runs) in a test innings,
[46] and also most five-wicket hauls (6) in a test innings in wins.
[47]
Welfare activities
Shaukat Khanum Memorial Trust
Khan focused his efforts solely on
social work. By 1991, he had founded the Shaukat Khanum Memorial Trust, a charity organisation bearing the name of his mother, Mrs. Shaukat Khanum. As the Trust's maiden endeavour, Khan established Pakistan's first and only cancer hospital, constructed using donations and funds exceeding $25 million, raised by Khan from all over the world.
[7] [48][49]
Namal Knowledge City
Main article:
Namal College
Imran Khan Foundation
Imran Khan Foundation is another welfare work, which aims to assist needy people all over Pakistan. It has provided help to
flood victims in Pakistan.
[52] Buksh Foundation has partnered with the Imran Khan Foundation to light up villages in
Dera Ghazi Khan,
Mianwali and
Dera Ismail Khan under the project 'Lighting a Million Lives'. The campaign will establish several Solar Charging Stations in the selected off-grid villages and will provide villagers with solar lanterns, which can be regularly charged at the solar-charging stations.
[53][54]
Politics
Initial politics (1996–2013)
Imran Khan, Chairman of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf addressing Tribal leaders in a meeting in Islamabad.
In 1996, Khan founded a political party,
Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI).
[15][55][56] Khan supported General Pervez Musharraf's military
coup in 1999,
[57] believing Musharraf would "end corruption, clear out the political mafias".
[58] According to Khan, he was Musharraf's choice for prime minister in 2002 but turned down the offer.
[59] The
2002 Pakistani general election in October across 272 constituencies, Khan anticipated in the elections and was prepared to form a coalition if his party did not get a majority of the vote.
[60] He was elected from
Mianwali.
[61] He has also served as a part of the Standing Committees on
Kashmir and Public Accounts.
[62]
On 2 October 2007, as part of the
All Parties Democratic Movement, Khan joined 85 other MPs to resign from Parliament in protest of the presidential election scheduled for 6 October, which general Musharraf was contesting without resigning as army chief.
[9] On 3 November 2007, Khan was put under
house arrest, after president Musharraf declared a
state of emergency in Pakistan. Later Khan escaped and went into hiding.
[65] He eventually came out of hiding on 14 November to join a student protest at the
University of the Punjab.
[66] At the rally, Khan was captured by students and was mistreated.
[67]
On 30 October 2011, Khan addressed more than 100,000 supporters in Lahore, challenging the policies of the government, calling that new change a "tsunami" against the ruling parties,
[68] Another successful public gathering of 250,000 supporters was held in Karachi on 25 December 2011.
[69] Since then Khan has become a real threat to the ruling parties and a future political prospect in Pakistan. According to the
International Republican Institute's (IRI's) survey, Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) tops the list of popular parties in Pakistan both at the national and provincial level.
[70][71]
On 23 March 2013, Khan introduced the "Naya Pakistan Resolution" (New Pakistan) at the start of his election campaign.
[74][75][76][77]
2013 elections campaign
Imran Khan addressing a crowd at Hyderabad.
In Opposition
Khan led
Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf became the opposition party in Punjab and Sindh. Khan became the
parliamentary leader of his party.
[116][117] On 31 July 2013 Khan was issued a contempt of court notice for allegedly criticizing the superior judiciary,
[118] and his use of the word
"shameful" for the judiciary. The notice was discharged after Khan submitted before the Supreme Court that he criticized the lower judiciary for their actions during the May 2013 General election while those judicial officers were working as returning officers.
[119]Khan's party swooped the
militancy-hit northwestern
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and has formed the provincial government.
[120][121][122] PTI-led Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government presented a balanced, tax-free budget for the fiscal year 2013–14.
[123]
One year after elections, on 11 May 2014, Khan alleged that 2013 general elections were rigged in favor of the ruling Pakistan Muslim Leaque.
[126] On 14 August 2014, Imran Khan led a rally of supporters from
Lahore to Islamabad, promising
Nawaz Sharif's resignation and investigation into alleged electoral fraud.
[127] On its way to the capital Khan's convoy was attacked by stones
Muslim League supporters in
Gujranwala, however there were no fatalities.
[128] Khan was reported to be attacked with guns which forced him to travel him in bullet-proof vehicle.
[129] On August 15 Khan led protesters entered the capital and a few days later marched into the high security Red Zone, on 1st Sep 2014, according to
Al Jazeera, attempted to storm Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s official residence, which prompted the outbreak of violence which has resulted in three deaths and more than 595 people injured, including 115 police officers.
[130] By September Khan had entered into a de facto alliance with Canadian-Pakistani cleric
Muhammad Tahir-ul-Qadri, both have aimed to mobilize their supporters for regime change.
[131][132]
Ideology
Khan giving autographs on membership forms for new party members in Lahore.
Platform
Khan's proclaimed political platform and declarations include: Islamic values, to which he rededicated himself in the 1990s; liberal economics, with the promise of deregulating the economy and creating a welfare state; decreased bureaucracy and the implementation of anti-corruption laws, to create and ensure a clean government; the establishment of an independent judiciary; overhaul of the country's police system; and an anti-militant vision for a democratic Pakistan.
[33][41][133] [134][135] David Rose described Khan as a threat to the Americans and the feudal lords who have ruled Pakistan for decades.
[136]
Apology towards Bangladesh
Rally in South Waziristan
In August 2012, the Pakistani Taliban issued death threats if he went ahead with his march to their tribal stronghold along the
Afghan border to protest US drone attacks, because he calls himself a "liberal" – a term they associate with a lack of religious belief.
[143] [144] On 1 October 2012, prior to his plan to address a rally in
South Waziristan, senior commanders of
Pakistani Taliban said after a meeting headed by the Taliban leader
Hakimullah Mehsud that they now offered Khan security assistance for the rally because of Khan's opposition to
drone attacks in Pakistan, reversing their previous stance.
[145]
Khan addresses a conference on War on terror in
Germany.
Khan expressed against the forced conversion of the Kalash people under threat from Taliban and labeled it un-Islamic.
[146]
Views on Kashmir
Khan views Kashmir issue as a humanitarian problem contrary to the concept of territorial dispute between two countries (India and Pakistan). He also proposed secret talks to settle the issue as he thinks the vested interests on both sides will try to subvert them. He ruled out a military solution to the conflict and denied the possibility of a fourth war between India and Pakistan over the disputed mountainous region.
[147]
Biographical film
In 2010, a Pakistani production house announced to produce a film based on Khan's life named as
Kaptaan: The Making of a Legend (
Urdu:
کپتان افسانوی کردار کی تشکیل). The title is Urdu for 'Captain' indicating his captaincy of the Pakistan cricket team which led them to victory in the 1992 cricket world cup. It follows the events that have shaped up his life from being ridiculed in cricket to being labeled as a
playboy; from the tragic death of his mother to his efforts and endeavors in building the first cancer hospital in Pakistan; from being the first Chancellor of the
University of Bradford to the building of Namal University.
[148][149][150]
Awards and honours
- Khan is featured in the University of Oxford's Hall of Fame and has been an honorary fellow of Oxford's Keble College.[80]
- In 1976 and 1980, Khan was awarded The Cricket Society Wetherall Award for being the leading all-rounder in English first-class cricket.
- In 1983, he was also named Wisden Cricketer of the Year
- In 1983, he received the president’s Pride of Performance Award
- In 1985, Sussex Cricket Society Player of the Year
- In 1990, Indian Cricket Cricketer of the Year[29]
- In 1992, Khan was given Pakistan's civil award, the Hilal-i-Imtiaz
- On 8 July 2004, Khan was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2004 Asian Jewel Awards in London, for "acting as a figurehead for many international charities and working hard in fund-raising activities."[151]
- On 7 December 2005, Khan was appointed the fifth Chancellor of the University of Bradford, where he is also a patron of the Born in Bradford research project.
- On 13 December 2007, Khan received the Humanitarian Award at the Asian Sports Awards in Kuala Lumpur for his efforts in setting up the first cancer hospital in Pakistan.[152]
- On 5 July 2008, he was one of several veteran Asian cricketers presented special silver jubilee awards at the inaugural Asian Cricket Council(ACC) award ceremony in Karachi.[153]
- In 2009, at the International Cricket Council's centennial year celebration, Khan was one of fifty-five cricketers inducted into the ICC Hall of Fame.[154]
- In 2011 he was given the Jinnah Award.
- On 28 July 2012, Imran Khan was awarded an honorary fellowship by the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh in recognition of his services for cancer treatment in Pakistan.[155]
- In 2012 according to Pew Research Center, seven out of ten Pakistani respondents offered a favourable opinion about Khan. The survey also revealed that Khan enjoys popularity among youth.[13]
- He was the Asia Society's Person of the Year 2012.
- In December 2012, GlobalPost ranked him third in a list of the top nine world leaders.[11]
Publications
Khan has published six works of non-fiction, including an autobiography co-written with Patrick Murphy. He periodically writes editorials on cricket and Pakistani politics in several leading Pakistani and British newspapers. It was revealed in 2008 that Khan's second book,
Indus Journey: A Personal View of Pakistan, had required heavy editing from the publisher. The publisher Jeremy Lewis revealed in a memoir that when he asked Khan to show his writing for publication, "he handed me a leatherbound notebook or diary containing a few jottings and autobiographical snippets. It took me, at most, five minutes to read them; and that, it soon became apparent, was all we had to go on."
[156]
Books
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