Twenty-two former captains of international cricket teams have written a second letter to Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Sunday, renewing calls for former Prime Minister and cricket captain Imran Khan to receive full medical treatment while imprisoned, saying recent developments fall short of a Supreme Court directive.

The letter follows a Supreme Court order that Khan be taken to hospital for examination by a medical board including his personal physicians and his sister, Dr Uzma Khan, and that weekly family visits resume.

The signatories said Khan's hospital stay on Sunday lasted only a few hours. He was examined by a state-appointed team rather than the court-directed board, declared "medically fit," and returned to Adiala Jail before that board could complete its assessment.

“Concerningly, Mr Khan’s hospital stay lasted only a few hours. He was examined by a state-appointed team rather than the board the Court had directed, declared ‘medically fit’, and returned to Adiala Jail before that board could complete its work. His family and legal team say this falls short of what the Court ordered,” the letter read.

In the letter, the former captains request that the Supreme Court-directed medical board be allowed to complete an independent assessment, particularly of Imrans's reported vision loss; that weekly family visits continue without delay; and that any recommended treatment be provided promptly.

It is the former captains' second such appeal in six months, after 14 ex-captains wrote in February citing concerns over an eye complaint that Imran's family says has left him nearly blind in one eye.

“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 concluded.

Imran, Pakistan's prime minister from 2018 to 2022, is serving multiple sentences including corruption charges carrying 10, 14 and 17 years, plus seven years over his marriage.

Signatories

Michael Atherton, Alex Blackwell, Allan Border, Michael Brearley, Greg Chappell, Ian Chappell, Belinda Clark, Alastair Cook, Michael Gatting, Sunil Gavaskar, Lee Germon, Adam Gilchrist, David Gower, Kim Hughes, Nasser Hussain, Clive Lloyd, Kapil Dev, Arjuna Ranatunga, Andrew Strauss, Dilip Vengsarkar, Steve Waugh, John Wright