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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 an Oxbridge educated Pakistani former cricketer turned politician and philanthropist. Imran is the finest cricketer Pakistan has ever produced, who is among the finest all-rounders and greatest fast bowlers the game has ever seen. 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. After retiring from cricket, Imran Khan founded the state-of-the-art Shaukat Khanum Memorial Cancer Hospital & Research Centre in Lahore, Pakistan. Currently, Imran is a member of Parliament and leader of the political party that he founded, the Tehreek-e-Insaf (Movement for Justice). Imran Khan is a special representative of UNICEF and Chancellor of Bradford University. His honours include: Hilal-i-Imtiaz( crescent of excellence) in (1993) by the Pakistani government; Honorary Fellow of Keble College, Oxford; and Wisden Cricketer of the Year 1983.

Personal Background

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.

Cricket

All-rounder

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, though statistically and qualitatively Imran is superior to Botham in every aspect of the game except perhaps slip catching. 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.)

Richie Benaud, the former Australian captain and doyen of cricket commentators, in his World XI (Richie Benaud’s Greatest XI) of the 20th century, named Imran Khan and Sobers as the two all-rounders in the greatest XI side; Benaud short-listed Imran and Sobers out of the pantheon of all-rounders: Garry Sobers, Imran Khan, Ian Botham, Keith Miller, Richard Hadlee, Kapil Dev.

In April 2007, Imran was voted as the greatest all-rounder in a readers poll by Cricinfo. He received 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. According to the panel Imran Khan was Sobers' closest rival amongst the quartet of great all-rounders (Imran, Botham, Hadlee, Kapil).

Fast Bowler

Along with Sarfraz Nawaz, Imran Khan pioneered the art of . He was one of the fastest bowlers ever to grace the game. Michael Holding, the great West Indian fast bowler and commentator, when asked in an interview with Cricinfo who the best bowlers he came up against were, said that: "In my time, it was Dennis Lillee and Imran Khan. They had pace and they could do things with the ball. You had others who got a lot of wickets, but you wouldn't say that they were fast. Kapil Dev and Richard Hadlee were two. Jeff Thomson was extremely fast without being as dynamic a bowler as Lillee. Dennis was pretty much the all-round fast bowler; he could do anything with the ball. Imran was another who could intimidate people out with his pace and also get them with movement, especially into the right-hander.")

Captain and Leader

In the cricket world, Imran is renowned for is leadership skills as a captain. Under his captaincy, Pakistan won the 1992 Cricket World Cup. Under his captaincy Pakistan drew three series with West Indies at a time when everybody else was being white washed by West Indies. Imran Khan always led from the front and "five of Imran's six Test hundreds and 14 of his 18 fifties came in 48 Tests as captain . His average during that time was 52.34, higher than the averages of Ian Chappell, Clive Lloyd, Steve Waugh, Gavaskar and Javed Miandad...Imran averaged 20.26 with the ball and four of his six ten-wicket hauls came as captain."

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.

Social work

Shaukat Khanum Memorial Cancer Hospital

Main Entry: Shaukat Khanum Memorial Cancer Hospital & Research Centre .After retiring from cricket, Imran Khan founded the state-of-the-art Shaukat Khanum Memorial Cancer Hospital and Research Centre located in Lahore, Pakistan. The World Health Organisation awarded the United Arab Emirates Foundation Prize for 2004 to Shaukat Khanum Memorial Cancer Hospital. Mrs Hillary Rodham Clinton (USA) is also a recipient of the prestigious award which is awarded "to one or more persons, institutions or nongovernmental organizations that have made an outstanding contribution to health development."

Mianwali Development Trust and Bradford University

Main Entry: Mianwali Development Trust .Imran Khan is the also the Chairman of the Mianwali Development Trust, which is developing Namal College in Mianwali as an associate college of Bradford university. The first phase of College buildings will be completed for the admission of students in September 2006.

Political career

History

In 1997, he started a socio-political movement in Pakistan known as the Tehreek-e-Insaf (Movement for Justice) and ran for office in the National Elections. The movement's main focus is to bring justice to the people of Pakistan, largely via an independent judiciary. The party 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. In 2005, as leader of his party, Imran led a protest rally against the US-led coalition for allegedly desecrating 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. 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.

Battle with MQM

Imran Khan has been banned from entering Sindh for one month according to official notice of Sindh Government. Imran Khan is planning to file suit against Altaf Hussain the party chief of MQM in London, England. Imran Khan has accused Altaf Hussain for masterminding the bloodshed of 12 May in Karachi which led to killing of dozens of political workers and destruction of property, the day Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry was supposed to address the Sindh High Court Bar. The situation worsened when Imran Khan labelled MQM as a fascist party and Altaf Hussain as Pakistan's number one terrorist. It led to protests by MQM in Karachi and Hyderabad. MQM, already suffering from 12 May incidents has started a campaign of mud slinging and using its resources to attack on personal life of Imran Khan. On ARY One World a private Pakistani channel based in Dubai, UAE, Imran Khan quoted from various sources such as Amnesty International, the details of atrocities committed by MQM during the 90's era. It greatly infuriated the leadership of MQM. MQM is notorious for terrorizing and killing those who oppose them. They have been involved in attacking Dawn office, a major English newspaper in Pakistan. It is expected that Imran Khan will take a lawyers team from Pakistan and some other lawyers based in United Kingdom to file a case against Altaf Hussain. Imran Khan will reach London on June 2 along with sufficient documentary evidence to build a case against the MQM chief Altaf Hussain, who is living in self-exile in London and is now a British national.

Political Vision

As a politician, Imran's vision is to turn Pakistan into a just society based on humane values by creating "an independent and honest judiciary that will uphold democracy, protect human rights and ensure the rule of law" and by promoting "a merit based system that provides equal opportunity for upward social mobility for the working classes." . His political ideal is the famous poet and philospopher Allama Iqbal.

Personal Life

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. Khan has previously been romantically linked with Susannah Constantine. 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. A US judge ruled him to be the father of Tyrian White after he failed to appear for a DNA test.

References

External links

Template:All-rounders-Triple Template:All-rounders

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

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