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Revision as of 22:23, 28 April 2007

For the cricketer of the same name from the West Indies, see Imran Khan (Trinidad and Tobago cricketer).
Imran Khan
Imran Khan in 2007
Source: , 1 January 2007

Imran Khan (Urdu/Pashto: عمران احمد خان نیازی) (Imran Ahmad Khan Niazi; son of Ikram Ullah Khan Niazi Shermankhel) born November 25 1952, in Mianwali is a Pakistani former cricketer turned politician. Imran played Test cricket for Pakistan between 1971 and 1992, and was captain of the national team when they won their maiden World Cup in 1992. Currently, Imran is a member of Parliament and leader of the political party, the Tehrik-e Insaf (Movement for Justice).

Imran is from the Niazi Pashtun Shermankhel tribe of Mianwali, Pakistan. His family is settled in Lahore Punjab, however, he still considers his background Pathan as per his autobiography (Warrior Race: A Journey Through the Land of the Tribal Pathans). Imran attended Aitchison College and the Cathedral School in Lahore until he finished middle school, then entered the Royal Grammar School, Worcester, before completing his formal schooling with an undergraduate degree in Economics from Keble College, Oxford. While at University, Imran was also the captain of the Oxford University cricket team in 1974. He and his mother, Shaukat Khanum, come from a cricketing family--the Burki's, with two of his cousins, Javed Burki and Majid Khan, also having played Test cricket for Pakistan.

This famous Pashtun is not only known for his performances on the field, but off the field as well. Labelled by some as an international playboy, Khan was once voted as the "Sexiest Man of The Year" by Australia Magazine Oz.

Cricket

Imran is seen as one of the finest all-rounders the game has ever produced, along with Garfield Sobers, Ian Botham, Kapil Dev,and Richard Hadlee. He achieved the "All-rounder's triple" (3000 runs and 300 wickets) in 75 tests, the second fewest behind Botham's 72.

In April 2007, Imran was voted as the greatest all-rounder in a readers poll by Cricinfo. He claiming 37% of the votes, beating Sir Garfield Sobers who was second with 14% out of the 20 all-rounders Cricinfo had selected. Incidentally Cricinfo's panel chose Sobers as the greatest all-rounder independent of the poll.

He was one of the fastest bowlers of the world during the late 1970s and early 1980s, and in the later half of his career, one of the best batsmen in the Pakistan team. (He has the second highest average of all time for a test batsman batting at number 6.)

Perhaps more significantly, as a captain, he transformed the Pakistan team, previously known for its exceptional talent but lack of coherence into a well-moulded unit. Imran played his last test match for Pakistan in January 1992 vs Sri Lanka at Faisalabad and last ODI being the World Cup final vs England at Melbourne in March 1992 resulting in the world cup glory and truimph for his country.

Personal life and social work

Since retiring from Test cricket, Khan has devoted most of his time to the Shaukat Khanum Memorial Cancer Hospital & Research Centre, a state-of-the-art charitable cancer hospital he established in Lahore using donations.

His honours include being awarded the Hilal-i-Imtiaz in 1993 by the Pakistani government, Honorary Fellow of Keble College, Oxford and Wisden Cricketer of the Year 1983. He is also currently the Chancellor of the University of Bradford in the United Kingdom and patron of the Born in Bradford research project.

Imran Khan is also alleged to have a daughter out of wedlock with Sita White, daughter of Lord "Gordy" White, a few years before he married Jemima Goldsmith.

Marriage to Jemima Goldsmith

In 1995 he married Jemima Khan, the daughter of the late British billionaire Sir James Goldsmith. Jemima Khan embraced Islam before she married Khan. They announced their divorce on 22 June 2004. They have two sons named Qasim and Suleiman. Jemima was lately dating British actor Hugh Grant but announced a break-up on 18 February, 2007. Ironically, Khan is good friends with Grant's ex, Elizabeth Hurley.

Politician

In 1997, he started a socio-political movement in Pakistan known as Movement for Justice (Urdu: Tahrik-e Insaaf) and ran for office in the National Elections. The movement has Islamic overtones and was inspired partly by Khan's renewed commitment to Islam. He became a Member of Parliament for Mianwali in the October 2002 elections. He is very critical of the judicial system in Pakistan, which he says prevents accountability for the elite class in Pakistan. Initially Imran supported 1999's militray coup of General Pervez Musharraf, however came in to the fore-front of those against General and President Musharraf.

Imran Khan is known for making politically charged statements that have raised eyebrows, both when he was captain of the Pakistan team and later in his role as a politician. The first of these statements came during an India Pakistan match in Sharjah where Imran remarked, "Let's settle the Kashmir issue over the cricket match". Though Imran claimed that he had made that statement only casually. Versions of this statement are often used as jokes in Pakistan.

In 2005, as leader of his party, Imran led a protest rally against the US-led coalition which had desecrated the Holy Quran and made statements denouncing the Musharraf-Bush coalition. He described Musharraf as President Bush's Blue-Eye-Boy, however President Clinton was even reluctant to shake hands with Musharraf. Imran continues to be critical of Pro-American policies of Pakistan government.

On December 7 2005, he was elected as the Chancellor of University of Bradford, the first international personality to have been given the honour by the university.

During the recent visit in 2006 of George W. Bush to Pakistan, Imran was the only politician to attempt to hold a rally against his visit. The rally was stopped and Imran Khan was detained by the police.

Imran's current projects including building a branch of the Shaukat Khanum Memorial Cancer Hospital & Research Centre in Karachi and a University in his hometown of Mianwali.

Preceded byZaheer Abbas Pakistan Cricket Captain
1982-1983 		Succeeded bySarfraz Nawaz
Preceded byZaheer Abbas Pakistan Cricket Captains
1985-1987 		Succeeded byAbdul Qadir
Preceded byAbdul Qadir Pakistan Cricket Captain
1989-1992 		Succeeded byJaved Miandad


Further reading

References

  1. "Imran Khan: a brief biography". eSSORTMENT. 2005-04-29. Retrieved 2006-06-22. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  2. Cricinfo greatest all-rounder
  3. http://content-aus.cricinfo.com/ci/content/story/221606.html
  4. http://www.hellomagazine.com/celebrities/2004/06/22/jemimakhan/
  5. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/6370675.stm?ls
  6. http://www.bollywoodmantra.com/1177_imran-khan-invites-sushmita-sen-for-fundraising-of-his-cancer-hospital.html

External links

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