FORMER Worcestershire cricketer Imran Khan is back in prison after he was taken to a private hospital to undergo a medical examination over health concerns.
Former Prime Minister of Pakistan Imran Khan, who has longstanding ties to Worcestershire, was ordered by Pakistan’s Supreme Court to undergo a medical examination but was moved back to prison on Friday after he was deemed medically fit.
The court had instructed the examination of the 73-year-old take place at a private hospital in Islamabad, following months of health concerns raised by Mr Khan’s family and doctors.
A medical board carried out the assessment, including specialists and one of Mr Khan’s personal physicians.
The Supreme Court had on Tuesday ordered that the cricketer who later forged a political career be taken to the hospital within 48 hours to be examined by physicians, following complaints about his health.
Mr Khan has longstanding ties to Worcestershire, having attended the Royal Grammar School Worcester and played county cricket for Worcestershire in the early 1970s.
He arrived in Worcester in 1971, shortly after making his Test debut for Pakistan at just 18.
He boarded at the school’s Whiteladies house and played for the school cricket team at Flagge Meadow.
Between 1971 and 1976, Mr Khan played as a fast-bowling all-rounder for Worcestershire County Cricket Club.
Khan was jailed for 14 years while his wife, Bushra Bibi, was sentenced to seven years after being found guilty of corruption. He is currently serving a 17-year prison sentence (awarded in late 2025) for the Toshakhana-II state gifts case, running alongside a 14-year prison sentence (awarded in early 2025) for the Al-Qadir Trust land corruption
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The sentence of the former Pakistani Prime Minister followed multiple convictions on corruption charges stemming from over 180 legal cases brought against him since his ouster from power in April 2022. He has been incarcerated since August 2023 and is primarily held at Adiala Jail in Rawalpindi.
Khan has denied wrongdoing and insisted since his arrest in 2023 that all the charges against him are a plot by rivals to keep him from returning to office.
He balanced his early cricket career with school commitments before moving on to Oxford University and later Sussex in 1977.