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Imran Khan

Imran Ahmed Khan Niazi, .}} (born 5 October 1952) is a Pakistani politician, philanthropist, and former cricketer who served as the 19th prime minister of Pakistan from August 2018 until April 2022. He is the founder and former chairman of the political party Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) from 1996 to 2023.

Born in Lahore, Khan graduated from Keble College, Oxford. He began his international cricket career in a 1971 Test series against England. In addition to achieving the rare All-Rounder's Triple and retiring with one of the best bowling averages among players with over 300 wickets, Imran Khan holds several individual records. As a captain, he has the world record for the most wickets, best bowling strike rate, and best bowling average in Test cricket, along with the best bowling figures in a Test innings and second best figures in a innings by a captain in Tests. Khan is also credited with introducing neutral umpires to cricket during his captaincy. Additionally, he has won the most Player of the Series awards in Test cricket for Pakistan and ranks fourth overall in Test history. Named one of Wisden Cricketers of the Year in 1983 and International Cricketer of the Year in 1989, Khan led Pakistan to its first-ever Test series wins in India and England during 1987, as well as three drawn series against the West Indies in the 1980s.

Playing until 1992, he was the captain of the Pakistan national cricket team for most of the 1980s and early 1990s. Although Pakistan co-hosted the 1987 Cricket World Cup, they were eliminated in the semi-finals, leading to his temporary retirement. However, at the request of President Zia-ul-Haq, he returned to captain the team in 1988 and ultimately led Pakistan to its first and only Cricket World Cup victory in 1992. Due to his influence on the game, he is referred to as "The Beckenbauer of Pakistan." Khan was also one of the pioneers of reverse swing bowling, a technique that later became a defining skill for Pakistan's fast bowlers. He passed on this ability to Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis, who developed and popularized it in subsequent years. Considered one of cricket's greatest all-rounders, he was inducted into the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame.

Founding Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) in 1996, Khan won a seat in the National Assembly from his hometown of Mianwali in the 2002 general election. PTI became the second-largest party by popular vote in the 2013 election, and five years later, running on a populist platform, PTI formed a coalition government with independents, with Khan as prime minister. Khan's government inherited a balance of payments crisis and sought bailouts from the IMF. He presided over GDP growth after initial contraction, implemented austerity policies, and increased tax collection. His government committed to a renewable energy transition, launched the Ehsaas Programme, and the Plant for Pakistan initiative, and expanded the protected areas of Pakistan and Sehat Sahulat Program. The reforms and actions undertaken during his time in office were largely responsible for Pakistan's removal from the FATF greylist, though the official exit occurred shortly after his tenure. He presided over the COVID-19 pandemic, which caused economic turmoil and rising inflation in the country. In April 2022, during the constitutional crisis following the Lettergate affair, Khan became the first Pakistani prime minister to be removed from office through a no-confidence motion.

In October that year, Khan was disqualified by the Election Commission of Pakistan for one term from assuming office in the National Assembly of Pakistan due to the Toshakhana case. In November, he survived an assassination attempt at a political rally in Wazirabad. In May 2023, Khan was attending a hearing on corruption charges when paramilitary forces stormed into the Islamabad High Court and arrested him. Protests broke out throughout Pakistan, some turning into violent riots. Subsequently, his arrest was declared illegal by the Supreme Court. In August 2023, he was sentenced to three years in prison after being convicted of misusing his premiership to buy and sell gifts in state possession.

He was subsequently sentenced to ten years in prison in early 2024 for leaking state secrets and violating the Official Secrets Act in the Lettergate affair, and an additional seven years for breaching Islamic marriage laws with his wife; both of these sentences were overturned in mid-2024. Khan has since been charged on matters related to the 2023 riots, clashes between his supporters and police in September 2024, and in the Al-Qadir Trust case in January 2025, receiving a 14-year sentence. As of December 2024, court records showed that 186 cases were filed against Khan all over Pakistan. Provided by Wikipedia