Imran Khan

This article is about the Pakistani politician and former cricketer. For other people with the same name, see Imran Khan (disambiguation).

Imran Khan HI PP
عمران خان
Chairman of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf
Incumbent
Assumed office 25 April 1996
Deputy	Shah Mehmood Qureshi
Preceded by	Position established
Member of the National Assembly
Incumbent
Assumed office 11 May 2013
Preceded by	Hanif Abbasi
Constituency	NA-56 (Rawalpindi-VII)
Majority	13,268 (8.28%)
In office 10 October 2002 – 3 November 2007
Preceded by	Constituency established
Succeeded by	Nawabzada Malik Amad Khan
Constituency	NA-71 (Mianwali-I)
Majority	6,204 (4.49%)
Chancellor of the University of Bradford
In office 7 December 2005 – 2014
Preceded by	The Baroness Lockwood
Succeeded by	Kate Swann
Personal details
Born	Imran Ahmad Khan Niazi (1952-10-05) 5 October 1952 Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan
Nationality	Pakistan
Political party	Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf
Spouse(s)	Jemima Goldsmith ​ ​ (m. 1995; div. 2004)​ Reham Khan ​ ​ (m. 2014; div. 2015)​ Bushra Manika ​ (m. 2018)​
Domestic partner	Sita White (c. 1987–91)
Children	3
Residence(s)	Bani Gala, Islamabad
Alma mater	Keble College, Oxford
Occupation	cricketer politician philanthropist author
Awards	Hilal-e-Imtiaz (1992) Pride of Performance (1983)
Cricket information
Batting	Right hand batsmen (RHB)
Bowling	Right-arm fast
Role	All-rounder
International information
National side	Pakistan
Test debut (cap 88)	3 June 1971 v England
Last Test	2 January 1992 v Sri Lanka
ODI debut (cap 175)	31 August 1974 v England
Last ODI	25 March 1992 v England
Career statistics
Competition Test ODI FC LA Matches 88 175 382 425 Runs scored 3807 3709 17771 10100 Batting average 37.69 33.41 36.79 33.22 100s/50s 6/18 1/19 30/93 5/66 Top score 136 102* 170 114* Balls bowled 19458 7461 65224 19122 Wickets 362 182 1287 507 Bowling average 22.81 26.61 22.32 22.31 5 wickets in innings 23 1 70 6 10 wickets in match 6 0 13 0 Best bowling 8/58 6/14 8/34 6/14 Catches/stumpings 28/0 36/0 117/0 84/0
Source: ESPNCricinfo, 5 November 2014

Hilal-i-Imtiaz and Pride of Performance
Imran Khan was awarded the Hilal-i-Imtiaz in 1992 and the Pride of Performance in 1983
Date	1992/1983
Country	Islamic Republic of Pakistan
Presented by	Islamic Republic of Pakistan

Imran Ahmad Khan Niazi PP, HI (Pashto/Urdu: عمران احمد خان نیازی; born 5 October 1952) is a Pakistani politician and former cricketer who is member-elect of the National Assembly and current chairman of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf. He won a plurality of the vote for premiership in the 2018 general elections. He was a member of the National Assembly of Pakistan from 2002 to 2007 and 2013 to 2018, seats which he won in the 2002 and 2013 general elections respectively. Prior to entering politics, Khan was a cricketer and philanthropist. He played international cricket for two decades and later developed philanthropic projects such as Shaukat Khanum Memorial Cancer Hospital & Research Centre and Namal College.

Khan was born to a Pashtun family in Lahore, Punjab, in 1952 and educated at Aitchison, Worcester, and later at Keble College, Oxford. Khan started playing cricket at the age of 13. Initially playing for his college and later for the Worcestershire Cricket Club, he made his debut for the Pakistan national cricket team at the age of 18 during the 1971 series against England at Edgbaston, Birmingham. After graduating from Oxford, Khan made his home debut for Pakistan in 1976, and played until 1992. Khan also served as the team's captain intermittently throughout 1982–1992. He, notably, led Pakistan to victory at the 1992 Cricket World Cup, Pakistan's first and only victory in that competition.

Khan retired from cricket in 1992 as one of Pakistan's most successful players. In total he made 3,807 runs and took 362 wickets in Test cricket, and is one of eight world cricketers to have achieved an 'All-rounder's Triple' in Test matches. He was later, in 2010, inducted into the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame. In 1991, he launched a fundraising campaign to set up a cancer hospital in memory of his mother. He raised $25 million to set up a hospital in Lahore in 1994, and later in 2015 a second hospital in Peshawar. Khan remains a prominent philanthropist and commenter, and served as the chancellor of Bradford University between 2005 and 2014 and was the recipient of an honorary fellowship by the Royal College of Physicians in 2012.

In April 1996, Khan founded the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (lit: Pakistan Movement for Justice), a centrist political party, and became the party's national leader. Khan contested for a seat in the National Assembly in October 2002 and served as an opposition member from Mianwali until 2007. He was again elected to the parliament in the 2013 elections, when his party emerged as the second largest in the country by popular vote. Khan serves as the parliamentary leader of the party and led the third largest block of parliamentarians in the National Assembly from 2013 to 2018. His party also leads a coalition government in north-western province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Khan remains a popular political figure and is the author of, among other publications, Pakistan: A Personal History.

Family and early life

Further information: Family of Imran Khan

Khan was born in Lahore on 5 October 1952. Some reports suggest he was born 25 November 1952. It was reported that 25 November was wrongly mentioned by Pakistan Cricket Board officials on his passport. He was the only son of Ikramullah Khan Niazi, a civil engineer, and his wife Shaukat Khanum. Long settled in Mianwali in northwestern Punjab, his paternal family are of Pashtun ethnicity and belong to the Niazi tribe. Khan's mother hailed from the Pashtun tribe of Burki, which had produced several successful cricketers in Pakistan's history, including his cousins Javed Burki and Majid Khan. Maternally, Khan is also a descendant of the Sufi warrior-poet and inventor of the Pashto alphabet, Pir Roshan, who hailed from his maternal family's ancestral Kaniguram town located in South Waziristan in the tribal areas of northwest Pakistan. His maternal family was based in Basti Danishmanda, Jalandhar, British India for about 600 years.

A quiet and shy boy in his youth, Khan grew up with his four sisters in relatively affluent (upper middle-class) circumstances and received a privileged education. He was educated at Aitchison College in Lahore and the Royal Grammar School Worcester in England, where he excelled at cricket. In 1972, he enrolled in Keble College, Oxford where he studied Philosophy, Politics and Economics, graduating with honours in 1975.

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). Khan was part of University of Oxford's Blues Cricket team during the 1973–1975 seasons. 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.

Khan made his Test cricket debut against England in 1971 at Edgbaston. Three years later, he debuted in the One Day International (ODI) match, once again playing against England at Trent Bridge 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. 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. 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.

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. 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.

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. 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. 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. 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, a record for the best bowling figures by any bowler in an ODI innings in a losing cause.

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. 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.

In the team's second match, Khan led them to their first Test win on English soil for 28 years at Lord's. 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. 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. 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.

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. 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. 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". He was declared Man of the Series against West Indies in 1988 when he took 23 wickets in 3 Tests. 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.

Post-retirement

Khan at a political rally in Peshawar in 1996

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." 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. Khan won the libel case, which the judge labelled a "complete exercise in futility", with a 10–2 majority decision by the jury.

Khan served as the chancellor of the University of Bradford between November 2005 and November 2014.

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, 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. In 2004, when the Indian cricket team toured Pakistan after 14 years, he was a commentator on TEN Sports' special live show, Straight Drive, while he was also a columnist for sify.com for the 2005 India-Pakistan Test series. He has provided analysis for every cricket World Cup since 1992, which includes providing match summaries for the BBC during the 1999 World Cup. He holds as a captain the world record for taking most wickets, best bowling strike rate and best bowling average in Test, and best bowling figures (8 wickets for 60 runs) in a Test innings, and also most five-wicket hauls (6) in a Test innings in wins.

On 23 November 2005, Imran Khan was appointed as the chancellor of University of Bradford, succeeding Baroness Lockwood. On February 26, 2014, University of Bradford Union floated a motion to remove Khan from the post over Khan's absence from every graduation ceremony since 2010. Khan, however, announced that he will step down on November 30, 2014 citing his "increasing political commitments". The university vice-chancellor Brian Cantor said Khan had been "a wonderful role model for our students".

Philanthropy

Main articles: Shaukat Khanum Memorial Cancer Hospital & Research Centre and Namal College

During the 1990s, Khan also served as UNICEF's Special Representative for Sports and promoted health and immunisation programmes in Bangladesh, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Thailand. While in London, he also works with the Lord's Taverners, a cricket charity. 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.

On 27 April 2008, Khan established a technical college in the Mianwali District called Namal College. It was built by the Mianwali Development Trust (MDT), and is an associate college of the University of Bradford in December 2005. 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. 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.

Political career

Initial era (1996–2013)

Khan tearing his nomination paper for National Assembly at a press conference; he boycotted the 2008 elections.

In 1996, Khan founded a political party, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI). He ran for the seat of National Assembly of Pakistan in Pakistani general election, 1997 as a candidate of PTI from two constituencies - NA-53, Mianwali and NA-94, Lahore - but was unsuccessful and lost the both seats to candidates of PML (N).

Khan supported General Pervez Musharraf's military coup in 1999, believing Musharraf would "end corruption, clear out the political mafias". According to Khan, he was Musharraf's choice for prime minister in 2002 but turned down the offer. The 2002 Pakistani general election in October across 272 constituencies, Khan participated in the elections and was prepared to form a coalition if his party did not get a majority of the vote. He was elected from Mianwali. He has also served as a part of the Standing Committees on Kashmir and Public Accounts. On 6 May 2005, Khan was mentioned in The New Yorker as being the "most directly responsible" for drawing attention in the Muslim world to the Newsweek story about the alleged desecration of the Qur'an in a US military prison at the Guantánamo Bay Naval Base in Cuba. In June 2007, Khan faced political opponents in and outside the parliament.

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. 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. He eventually came out of hiding on 14 November to join a student protest at the University of the Punjab. At the rally, Khan was captured by activists from the student wing of Jamaat-e-Islami and roughly treated. He was imprisoned during the protest and was sent to the Dera Ghazi Khan jail in the Punjab province where he spent few days before becoming free.

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, Another successful public gathering of hundreds of thousands of supporters was held in Karachi on 25 December 2011. 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.

Imran Khan at the conference “Rule of Law: The Case of Pakistan” organized by the Heinrich Böll Foundation in Berlin.

On 6 October 2012, Khan joined a vehicle caravan of protesters from Islamabad to the village of Kotai in Pakistan's South Waziristan region against US drone missile strikes. On 23 March 2013, Khan introduced the "Naya Pakistan Resolution" (New Pakistan) at the start of his election campaign. On 29 April The Observer termed Khan and his party Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf as the main opposition to the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz. On 30 April 2013, Manzoor Wattoo president of Pakistan Peoples Party (Punjab) offered Khan the office of prime minister in the possible coalition government which would include the PPP and Khan's PTI, in a move to prevent Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz to make the government, but the offer was rejected. In January 2014, YouGov ranked Khan as a famous person in and out of Pakistan. Between 2011 and 2013, Khan and Nawaz Sharif began to engage each other in a bitter feud. The rivalry between the two leaders grew in late 2011 when Khan addressed his largest crowd at Minar-e-Pakistan in Lahore. From 26 April 2013, in the run up to the elections, both the PML-N and the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf started to criticise each other.

2013 elections campaign

See also: Pervez Khattak administration and Pakistani general election, 2013

Khan with US Secretary of State John Kerry after the 2013 elections

On 21 April 2013, Khan launched his final public relations campaign for the 2013 elections from Lahore where he addressed thousands of supporters at the Mall. Khan announced that he would pull Pakistan out of the US-led war on terror and bring peace to the Pashtun tribal belt. He addressed different public meetings in Malakand, Lower Dir District, Upper Dir District and other cities of Pakistan where he announced that PTI will introduce a uniform education system in which the children of rich and poor will have equal opportunities. Khan ended his south Punjab campaign by addressing rallies at Bahawalpur, Khanpur, Sadiqabad, Rahim Yar Khan and Rajanpur.

Khan ended the campaign by addressing a rally of supporters in Islamabad via a video link while lying on a bed at a hospital in Lahore. According to the last survey before the elections by The Herald showed 24.98 percent of voters nationally planned to vote for his party, just a whisker behind former prime minister Nawaz Sharif's Pakistan Muslim League (PML-N). On 7 May, just four days before the elections, Khan was rushed to Shaukat Khanum hospital in Lahore after he tumbled from a forklift at the edge of a stage and fell headfirst to the ground. Pakistan's 2013 elections were held on 11 May 2013 throughout the country. The elections resulted in a clear majority of Pakistan Muslim League. Khan's PTI emerged as the second largest party by popular vote nationally, in Karachi Khan's party PTI won 30 directly elected parliamentary seats.

In opposition

See also: Azadi March, Pervez Khattak administration, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Investment Roadshow, and Panama Papers case

Khan led Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf became the opposition party in Punjab and Sindh. Khan became the parliamentary leader of his party. On 31 July 2013 Khan was issued a contempt of court notice for allegedly criticising the superior judiciary, and his use of the word shameful for the judiciary. The notice was discharged after Khan submitted before the Supreme Court that he criticised the lower judiciary for their actions during the May 2013 general election while those judicial officers were working as returning officers. Khan's party swooped the militancy-hit northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and has formed the provincial government. PTI-led Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government presented a balanced, tax-free budget for the fiscal year 2013–14.

On 13 November 2013, Imran Khan, being party leader, ordered Pervez Khattak to dismiss ministers of Qaumi Watan Party who were allegedly involved in corruption. Bakht Baidar and Ibrar Hussan Kamoli of Qaumi Watan Party, ministers for Manpower & Industry and Forest & Environment respectively, were dismissed. Khan ordered Chief Minister KPK to end the alliance with Qaumi Watan Party. Chief Minister KPK also dismissed Minister for Communication and Works of PTI "Yousuf Ayub" due to a fake degree.

Voice of America reports on Imran Khan-led protests in late 2014

One year after elections, on 11 May 2014, Khan alleged that 2013 general elections were rigged in favour of the ruling Pakistan Muslim Leaque. 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. On its way to the capital Khan's convoy was attacked by stones from Muslim League supporters in Gujranwala; however, there were no fatalities. Khan was reported to be attacked with guns which forced him to travel in bullet-proof vehicle. On 15 August Khan-led protesters entered the capital and a few days later marched into the high-security Red Zone; on 1 September 2014, according to Al Jazeera, protesters attempted to storm Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's official residence, which prompted the outbreak of violence. Three people died and more than 595 people were injured, including 115 police officers.

By September Khan had entered into a de facto alliance with Canadian-Pakistani cleric Muhammad Tahir-ul-Qadri; both have aimed to mobilise their supporters for regime change. Khan entered into an agreement with Sharif administration to establish a three-member high-powered judicial commission which would be formed under a presidential ordinance. The commission would make its final report public. If the commission finds a country-wide pattern of rigging proved, the prime minister would dissolve the national and provincial assemblies in terms of the articles 58(1) and 112(1) of the Constitution – thereby meaning that the premier would also appoint the caretaker setup in consultation with the leader of opposition and fresh elections would be held.

2018 election campaign

Imran Khan contested the general election from NA-35 (Bannu), NA-53 (Islamabad-II), NA-95 (Mianwali-I), NA-131 (Lahore-IX), and NA-243 (Karachi East-II). According to early, official results, Khan led the poll, although his opposition, mainly PML-N, alleged large-scale vote rigging and administrative malpractices. On 27 July, election officials declared that Khan's party had won 110 of the 269 seats, giving PTI a plurality in the National Assembly. At the conclusion of the count on 28 July, the Election Commission announced that the PTI had won a total of 115 of the 270 seats contested. Khan became the first person in the history of Pakistan general elections who contested and won in all five constituencies, surpassing Zulfikar Ali Bhutto who contested in four but won in three constituencies in 1970.

Allegations of rigging

A number of opposition parties have alleged "massive rigging" in Khan's favor amid allegations of military interference in the general elections. Nawaz Sharif and his PML-N party, in particular, claimed that a conspiracy between the judiciary and military had influenced the election in favour of Khan and PTI. The Election Commission of Pakistan, however, rejected allegations of rigging and Sharif and his PML-N later conceded victory to Khan, despite lingering 'reservations' regarding the result. Two days after the general elections were held, the chief observer of the European Union Election Observation Mission to Pakistan Michael Gahler confirmed that the overall situation of the general election was satisfactory.

Ideology

Basing his wider paradigm on the poet-philosopher Muhammad Iqbal and the Iranian writer-sociologist Ali Shariati he came across in his youth, Khan is generally described as a nationalist and a populist. 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. David Rose described Khan as a threat to the Americans and the feudal lords who have ruled Pakistan for decades.

Imran Khan speaking at the Chatham House in London

Khan publicly demanded a Pakistani apology towards the Bangladeshi people for the atrocities committed in 1971, He called the 1971 operation a "blunder" and likened it to today's treatment of Pashtuns in the war on terror. However, he repeatedly criticized the war crimes trials in Bangladesh in favor of the convicts, perpetuating the culture of genocide denial on the part of Pakistan. Khan is often mocked as "Taliban Khan" because of his pacifist stance regarding the war in North-West Pakistan. He believes in negotiations with Taliban and the pull out of the Pakistan Army from Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA). He is against US drone strikes and plans to disengage Pakistan from the US-led war on terror. Khan also opposes almost all military operations, including the Siege of Lal Masjid.

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. 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.

Khan spoke against the forced conversion of the Kalash people under threat from Taliban and labelled it un-Islamic. Khan views the Kashmir issue as a humanitarian issue, as opposed to a 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. Khan visited embassies of Iran and Saudi Arabia and met their head of commissions in Islamabad on 8 January 2015 to understand their stance about the conflict which is engulfing both nations after execution of Sheikh Nimr by Saudi Arabia. He urged the Government of Pakistan to play a positive role to resolve the matter between both countries.

After the result of Pakistani general election, 2018, Imran Khan said that he will try to remake Pakistan based on the ideology of Muhammad Ali Jinnah.

Wealth

Net worth

In 2012, Khan had net worth of Rs. 22.9 million (US$79,000) which decreased to Rs. 14 million (US$48,000) in the election year 2013 and then gradually increased to Rs. 33.3 million (US$120,000) in 2014. In 2015 Khan's assets were valued Rs. 1.33 billion (US$4.6 million). As of 2017, his net worth is Rs. 1.4 billion (US$4.8 million).

Assets

Khan owns a 300 kanal mansion in Bani Gala, Islamabad worth Rs. 750 million (US$2.6 million). He has a house in Zaman Park, Lahore worth Rs. 29 million (US$100,000). Khan has also been an investor, investing more than Rs. 40 million (US$140,000) in various businesses. He owns furniture of Rs. 0.6 million (US$2,100) and four goats of Rs. 0.2 million (US$690). However he has no vehicle registered in his name.

Tax

In July 2017, Federal Board of Revenue Pakistan revealed the tax directory of Pakistani MP's. According to FBR, Khan paid Rs. 76,200 (US$260) of tax in 2015 and Rs. 1.59 lakh (US$550) in 2016.

Public image

After the May 2013 elections, Mohammed Hanif writing for The Guardian termed Khan's support as appealing "to the educated middle classes but Pakistan's main problem is that there aren't enough educated urban middle-class citizens in the country". Pankaj Mishra writing for The New York Times in 2012, charactised Khan as a "cogent picture out of his—and Pakistan's—clashing identities" adding that "his identification with the suffering masses and his attacks on his affluent, English-speaking peers have long been mocked in the living rooms of Lahore and Karachi as the hypocritical ravings of “Im the Dim” and “Taliban Khan”—the two favored monikers for him." Mishra concluded with "like all populist politicians, Khan appears to offer something to everyone. Yet the great differences between his constituencies—socially liberal, upper-middle-class Pakistanis and the deeply conservative residents of Pakistan’s tribal areas—seem irreconcilable."

Khan addressing an Interfaith Christmas Dinner in 2014

On March 18, 2012, Salman Rushdie critiqued Khan after Khan refused to attend the India Today Conference because of Rushdie's attendance citing the “immeasurable hurt” that Rushdie’s writings have caused Muslims around the world. Rushdie, in turn, suggested Khan was a “dictator in waiting.” In 2011, While writing for The Washington Post, Richard Leiby termed Khan as an underdog adding that he "often sounds like a pro-democracy liberal but is well-known for his coziness with conservative Islamist parties." Ayesha Siddiqa, in September 2014, writing for The Express Tribune, claimed that "while we can all sympathise with Khan’s right to change the political tone, it would be worthwhile for him to envision how he would, if he did become the prime minister of this country, put the genie back into the bottle." H. M. Naqvi termed Khan as a "sort of a Ron Paul figure", adding that "there is no taint of corruption and there is his anti-establishment message.”

During the 1970s and 1980s, Khan became known as a socialite and sported a playboy image due to his "non-stop partying" at London nightclubs such as Annabel's and Tramp, though he claims to have hated English pubs and never drank alcohol. British heiress Sita White, daughter of Gordon White, Baron White of Hull, became the mother of his alleged lovechild daughter, Tyrian Jade White. A judge in the US ruled him to be the father of Tyrian, but Khan has denied paternity publicly. Later in 2007, Election Commission of Pakistan ruled in favour of Khan and dismissed the ex parte judgment of the US court, on grounds that it was neither admissible in evidence before any court or tribunal in Pakistan nor executable against him. About his lifestyle as a bachelor, he has often said that, "I never claim to have led an angelic life."

Declan Walsh in The Guardian newspaper in England in 2005 described Khan as a "miserable politician," observing that, "Khan's ideas and affiliations since entering politics in 1996 have swerved and skidded like a rickshaw in a rainshower... He preaches democracy one day but gives a vote to reactionary mullahs the next." Khan has also been accused by some opponents and critics of hypocrisy and opportunism, including what has been called his life's "playboy to puritan U-turn." Political commentator Najam Sethi, stated that, "A lot of the Imran Khan story is about backtracking on a lot of things he said earlier, which is why this doesn't inspire people." Author Fatima Bhutto has criticised Khan for "incredible coziness not with the military but with dictatorship" as well as some of his political decisions.

In popular culture

See also: Kaptaan: The Making of a Legend and Go Nawaz Go

In 2010, a Pakistani production house produced a biographical film based on Khan's life, titled Kaptaan: The Making of a Legend. The title, which is Urdu for 'Captain', depicts Khan's captaincy and career with the Pakistan cricket team which led them to victory in the 1992 cricket world cup, as well as events which shaped his life; from being ridiculed in cricket to being labelled a playboy; from the tragic death of his mother to his efforts and endeavours in building the first cancer hospital in Pakistan; from being the first Chancellor of the University of Bradford to the building of Namal University.

Personal life

He had numerous relationships during his bachelor life. He was then known as hedonistic bachelor and a playboy who was active on the London nightclub circuit.

He was in a relationship with late heiress Sita White, daughter of late British industrialist Gordon White, Baron White of Hull. They remained in the relationship for about six years having met in 1987-88. According to Sita White, Khan agreed for a child in the 1991 meeting. Tyrane Jade was born on 15 June 1992, at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center but Khan refused to accept her because she was a girl., Khan had urged White to go for an abortion Later in 1997, Los Angeles court announced the verdict which was put by his former partner Sita White and her lawyer Gloria Allred that Imran Khan is the father of a five year old girl named Tyrian-Jade White.

On 16 May 1995, at the age of 43, Khan married 21-year-old 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 Richmond registry office in England. Jemima converted to Islam. The couple have two sons, Sulaiman Isa and Kasim.

Rumours circulated that the couple's marriage was in crisis. Goldsmith denied the rumours by publishing an advertisement in Pakistani newspapers. 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".

In January 2015, it was announced that Khan married British-Pakistani journalist Reham Khan in a private Nikah ceremony at his residence in Islamabad. However, Reham Khan later states in her autobiography that they in fact got married in October 2014 but the announcement only came in January the year after. On 22 October, they announced their intention to file for divorce.

In mid-2016, late 2017 and early 2018, reports emerged that Khan had married his spiritual advisor Bushra Manika. Khan, PTI aides and members of the Manika family denied the rumour. Khan termed the media "unethical" for spreading the rumour, and PTI filed a complaint against the news channels that had aired it. On 7 January 2018, however, the PTI central secretariat issued a statement that said Khan had proposed to Manika, but she had not yet accepted his proposal. On 18 February 2018, PTI confirmed Khan has married Manika.

Khan resides in his sprawling farmhouse at Bani Gala. In November 2009, Khan underwent emergency surgery at Lahore's Shaukat Khanum Cancer Hospital to remove an obstruction in his small intestine.

Controversies

On 1 August 2017, Ayesha Gulalai came forward with allegations of harassment against Khan and claimed that she had been receiving offensive messages from him since October 2013. In an interview, Khan said that he suspected that the Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) had used Gulalai for this allegations of harassment against him. Later, Ayesha Gulalai said that she will forgive Khan if he apologises.

Awards and honours

Sporting awards

National

Main articles: List of international cricket five-wicket hauls by Imran Khan, 1992 Cricket World Cup, and 1992 Cricket World Cup Final

Imran Khan was captain of the Pakistan national cricket team on three occasions: 1982 – 1983; 1985 – 1987; and 1989 – 1992. In 1992, Khan's team won the Cricket World Cup. This is the only time the Pakistan team has won this competition. For this achievement, Khan received the Hilal-e-Imtiaz, the second highest civilian award and honour bestowed by the Government of Pakistan. In 1983, he received the president's Pride of Performance award.

International

Imran Khan was described by the BBC as, "One of the finest fast bowlers cricket has ever seen." ESPNcricinfo described him as, "The greatest cricketer to emerge from Pakistan, and arguably the world's second-best all-rounder after Garry Sobers."

• The Cricket Society Wetherall Award, leading all-rounder in English first-class cricket. (1976 and 1980).
• Wisden Cricketer of the Year (1983).
• Sussex Cricket Society Player of the Year. (1985)
• Indian Cricket Cricketer of the Year. (1990)
• International Cricket Council Hall of Fame, Centennial Year celebrations. (9 July 2004).
• Inaugural Silver Jubilee award, Asian Cricket Council, Karachi. (5 July 2008)
• Khan is featured in the University of Oxford's Hall of Fame and has been an honorary fellow of Oxford's Keble College.
• 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 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."
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• In 2016, Dawn reported that Khan biography page on Wikipedia was the 8th most read amongst Pakistani personalities in 2016.

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."

Books

• Khan, Imran; Murphy, Patrick (1983). Imran: The autobiography of Imran Khan. Pelham Books. ISBN 0-7207-1489-3.
• Khan, Imran (1989). Imran Khan's cricket skills. London : Golden Press in association with Hamlyn. ISBN 0-600-56349-9.
• Khan, Imran (1991). Indus Journey: A Personal View of Pakistan. Chatto & Windus. ISBN 0-7011-3527-1.
• Khan, Imran (1992). All Round View. Mandarin. ISBN 0-7493-1499-0.
• Khan, Imran (1993). Warrior Race: A Journey Through the Land of the Tribal Pathans. Chatto & Windus. ISBN 0-7011-3890-4.
• Khan, Imran (2011). Pakistan: A Personal History. Bantam Press. ISBN 0-593-06774-6.

International awards

One-Day International Cricket

Man of the Match awards

S No	Opponent	Venue	Date	Match Performance	Result
1	New Zealand	Trent Bridge, Nottingham	20 June 1983	79* (74 balls, 7x4, 1x6); DNB, 2 Ct.	Pakistan won by 11 runs.
2	India	Sharjah Cricket Stadium, Sharjah	22 March 1985	10–2–14–6 ; 0 (4 balls)	Pakistan won by 38 runs.
3	West Indies	Niaz Stadium, Hyderabad	18 November 1986	27 (21 balls: 2x6) ; 9–1–37–2	Pakistan won by 11 runs.
4	England	National Stadium, Karachi	20 October 1987	9–0–37–4 ; DNB	Pakistan won by 7 wickets.
5	West Indies	Brisbane Cricket Ground, Brisbane	7 January 1989	67* (41 balls: 7x4, 2x6) ; 9.4–0–42–2	Pakistan won by 55 runs.
6	West Indies	Sharjah Cricket Stadium, Sharjah	17 October 1989	60* (56 balls: 3x4) ; 5.4–0–21–1	Pakistan won by 57 runs.
7	Australia	Brabourne Stadium, Bombay	23 October 1989	8 (14 balls) ; 8–2–13–3	Pakistan won by 66 runs.
8	Sri Lanka	KD Singh Babu Stadium, Lucknow	27 October 1989	84* (110 balls: 3x4) ; 7–0–29–0	Pakistan won by 6 runs.
9	India	Eden Gardens, Kolkata	28 October 1989	47* (39 balls: 2x4, 2x6) ; DND, 1 Ct.	Pakistan won by 77 runs.
10	West Indies	Eden Gardens, Kolkata	1 November 1989	9–0–47–3 ; 55* (75 balls: 4x4)	Pakistan won by 4 wickets.
11	Australia	Sydney Cricket Ground, Sydney	13 February 1990	10–1–30–2 ; 56* (106 balls: 4x4)	Pakistan won by 6 wickets.
12	West Indies	Ibn-e-Qasim Bagh Stadium, Multan	13 November 1990	46* (59 balls: 2x4) ; 8–1–26–1	Pakistan won by 31 runs.
13	Sri Lanka	National Stadium, Karachi	13 January 1992	44* (27 balls: 5x4) ; 8–0–44–1	Pakistan won by 29 runs.

See also

• Family of Imran Khan
• List of international cricket five-wicket hauls by Imran Khan
• Player of the Match awards (cricket)
• Goldschmidt family
• Zac Goldsmith

Further reading

• Tennant, Ivo (1996). Imran Khan. Trafalgar Square Publishing. ISBN 0-575-05936-2.
• Huzur, Frank (2011). Imran Versus Imran: The Untold Story. Falcon & Falcon. ISBN 9788192055107. Archived from the original on 7 October 2013. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)

External links

• Imran Khan at ESPNcricinfo
• Imran Khan at CricketArchive (subscription required)
• Column archive at The Guardian
• Imran Khan's journey from cricketing Playboy to Politician - Journeyman Pictures
• 1990s Interview, Cricketer Imran Khan at Home – thekinolibrary
• "'Stop fighting and start talking'" (video). MSNBC. 14 December 2011.