Imran Khan in action for Pakistan against England at Lord's in June 1987. Photo: PA
Half a century ago, no one argued that Oxford University should lose its first-class cricket status. In 1974, they had a rather aristocratic captain named Imran Khan, who was becoming the best all-rounder Pakistan had ever had and much more.
At the Parks in early May, Imran scored a century in every innings against Nottinghamshire, who were just clinging to a draw. When Oxford and Cambridge teamed up to play a spinner-blessed tour of India, Imran – the captain, of course – decided to bat at No. 3, scoring 160 and 49.
Fifty years later, Imran is in jail.
Poor Northamptonshire. In June 1974, when Imran had a full Oxford team after his exams, the roles were reversed and the county waved them off as helpless students. Imran scored 170 in his only innings, was declared twice, took the new ball and gave the helmetless county professionals a scare with bouncers batting right-handed.
Imran Khan developed his Oxford batting prowess with two centuries against Nottinghamshire. Photo: Getty Images/Patrick Eagar
I watched the game briefly but missed what must have been a majestic wave when Imran called on his batsmen. Northants captain Roy Virgin scored more first-class hundreds than anyone else that season and had three future England batsmen in Geoff Cook, Wayne Larkins and Peter Willey – and they never came close to their goal , losing by 97 points. After his exams, Imran, like everyone else, played Test cricket for Pakistan during their tour of England.
Fifty years later, Imran is in Adiala Jail in Rawalpindi.
Imran read philosophy, politics and economics at Keble College, Oxford. His contemporary John Dixon, who played several games for Gloucestershire, remembers Imran knocking on his door and asking for a pillow (one for each student). “Wildly,” Imran announced, “I’ll come back tonight after a long run.”
Imran played for Worcestershire, but this limited his social style, so he moved to Sussex in 1977. fainted in Brighton. His Sussex captain John Barclay remarked: “Imran could rarely be relied upon for constancy of mood. Up one moment, down the next… He could be impulsive and at the same time calculating – both reliable and less reliable in the same hour. He is an idealist, at times completely inspired and amazingly persistent.”
To persuade him to take another plunge down the hill at Hove and scare the daylight once more, Barclay would say: “Oh please, Immy, can you bear the thought of bowling two more overs? I think this will help us win the match, and then you can go to London for the break.”
Imran was soon as good as any all-rounder except Sir Garfield Sobers. It was only when Lord Botham was young and fast that he could match Imran. Imran was the pioneer of reverse swing, in addition to his batting and captaincy, leading Pakistan to the 1992 World Cup when he was 39 years old but still talking like a tiger.
And since August last year Having ceased to be Prime Minister of Pakistan in April 2022, Imran is in prison.
Khan (center) led Pakistan to their only World Cup victory in 1992. Photo: Getty Images/Hulton Archive
Imran was undoubtedly the most charismatic cricketer after the war, apart from Sir Vivian Richards. He never played for Pakistan at home against England for several reasons, but I went to interview him in Faisalabad in 1982 to find out about his reputation as one of Wisden's five cricketers of the year. “I should have been chosen last year,” he said at the beginning of the interview. I could only bow my head in respect, if not agreement, because I was not the editor at the time. Imran always convincingly formulated the theory he has in his head, although a week later he may say the opposite.
He made his Test debut at the age of 18, in 1971, when he ran in like a young giraffe on wobbly legs and bowled the ball. Ten years later, he was probably throwing the ball back more than anyone ever had. This was before umpires had any idea what was going on with the ball, and rules were put in place to prevent it from being kicked to one side. During the Faisalabad Test, Imran launched the ball well outside off stump, dropping his right arm slightly so that it veered further away from the right-hander in the first two-thirds of the flight, and then must have rolled back a yard to blow the stumps.His captaincy was key to his position as prime minister. The Pakistani cricket team was divided between those from Karachi who spoke Urdu and those from Lahore who spoke Punjabi. Although Imran was from Lahore, he was educated at Oxford and, after leaving combat, gave orders in English.
Imran was sent to prison in August last year and sentenced to three years' imprisonment, followed by a further sentence of ten years of “rigorous imprisonment” after a quick trial in a closed court. Other Test cricketers were jailed and a West Indian fast bowler was on death row, unable to escape. But none of them served as prime minister like Imran for four years. He does not appear to have been mistreated inside Adiala, but when he is taken to court, the media are prohibited from taking photographs or filming.
His charisma still inspires loyalty. The political party he founded in 1996, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, was not allowed to participate in the last general elections and its bat emblem was banned. However, as independents, Imran's candidates still won the majority of seats. The next two parties had to unite their MPs to stop the PTI from forming a government.
Every Prime Minister of Pakistan, military or civilian, had his hands tied by the army and the ISI (Inter-Services Intelligence). so that he or she cannot touch the strings of the purse. Imran might like to spend more than the minimum amounts on health care and secular education. Instead, his politics were defined by his character in the same way as cricket: he targeted opponents with his bouncers, scoring runs rather than runs.
Imran is said to be quite pragmatic – he had to deal with B after all, ISI for four years – to eventually agree to a deal in exchange for release from prison. Meanwhile, he is a “shahid,” a powerful Urdu word meaning “martyr,” and increasingly so. He is a long, long way from being able to run through the parks as fast as he would like.
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