Imran Khan

Imran Khan (Imran Ahmad Khan Niazi; son of Ikram Ullah khan Niazi Shermankhel) born November 25, 1952, in Lahore 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 Tehreek-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 himself and his heritage Pashtun (Pathan) as per his autobiography (Warrior Race: A Journey Through the Land of the Tribal Pathans). [1] 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 comes from a cricketing burki family, with two of his cousins Javed Burki and Majid Khan also having played Test cricket for Pakistan.

Imran is seen as one of the finest all-rounders the game has ever produced, along with Garfield Sobers, Ian Botham, Kapil Dev, Richard Hadlee and Wasim Akram. 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. 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.

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.

In 1997, he has started a socio-political movement in Pakistan known as Movement for Justice (Urdu: Tehrik-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 Imram supported 1999’s militray coup of General Pervez Musharraf, however came in to the fore-front of those against General and President Musharraf.