Imran Khan, Pakistani cricket player
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This page is in its initial stages. It needs much greater details of Mr Khan's careers in cricket and politics.
Contents |
Cricket
Sunil Gavaskar reminisces
August 18, 2018: The Times of India
Wanted to retire, but Immy threw me a challenge
On A Day Imran Khan Is Set To Be Sworn In As Pakistan Prime Minister, Sunil Gavaskar Writes On His Old Friend
“You can’t retire now. Pakistan is coming to India next year and I want to beat India in India. If you aren’t part of that team, it won’t be the same. Come on, let’s have one last tilt against each other,” Imran Khan replied when I told him I planned to retire at the end of the India tour of England.
It was in 1986 and we were having lunch at an Italian restaurant in London. I said if the announcement of the tour wasn’t made before the final Test, I would go ahead and announce my retirement from international cricket. The tour was indeed announced in a few days. Pakistan won the last and final Test of that series after the earlier Tests were all drawn and thus beat India for the first time in India.
I didn’t announce my retirement at the end of the Pakistan series as I was keen on playing the MCC bi-centenary Test at Lord’s a little later.
When that side was announced, there was Kapil Dev, Dilip Vengsarkar, Imran and Javed Miandad. Imran and I had a partnership of 182 runs and what I enjoyed was the chats we had at the end of each over when two batsmen usually come down the pitch to encourage each other.
People of India would want Imran to usher in a new era of friendship
That's exactly how it was at first as we tried to assess the bowlers and the situation but as the partnership grew and settled in, Imran and I were telling each other stories from the Pakistan and Indian dressing rooms and having a laugh over it. Then when he smashed a six in the MCC President’s box, I joked that this was not expected when they selected him for the game. He turned around and asked where the media box was and I said it’s too far even for you to hit there.
We have known each other since 1971 when he was trying to qualify for Worcestershire County team. He was then just a scrawny kid, a medium pacer with an open chested action bowling inswingers but with little or no control. By the time we played him in a Test match seven years down the road, he had filled up and was now genuinely quick. The inswingers were still his stock deliveries but he had also developed the one that went straight through and got batsmen out caught behind as they played inside the line anticipating the inswinger.
He destroyed India almost single-handedly in 1982-83 taking 40 wickets and in the process ended the career of India’s best batsman of the decade, GR Viswanath. ‘Vishy’ shouldered arms to a ball way outside the off-stump and it swung so much that it almost knocked the leg-stump out.
He had a vision before the 1992 World Cup started that Pakistan would win the trophy and that's exactly how it turned out. His belief despite Pakistan’s slow start to the tournament was unshakeable. By that time, he had started work on building a cancer hospital in memory of his mother who had succumbed to the dreaded disease some years earlier.
It was while going for fund raising all over Pakistan that he realised what an impact he could have on the Pakistani public and that's where I believe the first germ of entering politics was sown. When he decided to enter the game he gave it everything and today, after tasting defeat in a couple of earlier elections. he is ready to take on the mantle of the Prime Minister of Pakistan. Just like in cricket, a captain is only as good as his team and so much will depend on his colleagues.
If his success as the cricket skipper is anything to go by, he will instill not just a sense of self-belief but also destiny in his ministerial and party colleagues.
He is the only Prime Minister of Pakistan who has come to India several times as an ordinary citizen and has interacted not only with the high society types but also the man on the street who met him as a fan. He should therefore be well aware that most Indians would want him to succeed as a Prime Minister and usher in a new era of friendship, and look forward not back.
A few years after he retired from the game he started to lose hair at the top and I welcomed him to the ‘Puri Club’. He looked perplexed as he asked, ‘Puri Club?’ I told him that all those who lose hair at the top have that bald spot like a puri and thus the Puri Club, but added that we both must ensure the puri does not become a paratha. He laughed and now you can see that he has grown his hair and it covers the puri. He has taken care of that problem.
However, now, not just Pakistanis but the Indians also want him to take care of the problems between the two countries and bring a new zest to the relationship, for if Imran ‘Khant’ then nobody can.
I won’t be able to attend his swearing in ceremony but my good wishes are with him as he embarks on the greatest challenge of his life.
The man
1995-2018: a summary
From [ The Times of India ] 20/02/2018
See graphic:
Imran Khan’s marriages, 1995-2018
1952-2018: in a nutshell
Avijit Ghosh, July 27, 2018: The Times of India
From: Avijit Ghosh, July 27, 2018: The Times of India
_and_politics_(1996-July_2018).jpg)
From: Avijit Ghosh, July 27, 2018: The Times of India
See graphics :
Imran Khan in politics and cricket: till July 2018
Imran Khan in cricket (summary) and politics (1996-July 2018)
When Imran Khan led Pakistan to World Cup triumph in 1992, he became a national demigod. Two years later, when he set up a non-profit cancer hospital in Lahore, millions of disadvantaged saw him as a ferishta, an angel.
Yet in 1996, when Imran formed Pakistan Tehreeke-Insaaf (PTI), most felt he wasn’t cut out for the hard road of South Asian politics. Friends and fans feared he would be swallowed by the quicksand of Pakistan’s power play. After all, the Oxford-educated cricketer came from an entitled background, relished the glam life and was known to change lovers like pyjamas. But as Wednesday’s election proved conclusively, there is more to Imran Khan.
Imran may have led his country to triumph in the 50-overs version, but it’s his appreciation of the long game of the Test that has stood him in good stead. He never took his eyes off the ball, despite the odds and adversities. In the 2002 general elections, his party won only one seat. Many major backers left him. But he held on.
As captain, Imran led from the front. When Pakistan crushed India 3-0 in 1982-83, the paceman, then at his unplayable worst, took 40 wickets. Under him, Pakistan never lost a Test to India. He had a knack for spotting the right players — Wasim Akram and Inzamam-ul-Haq to name two -— and backing them. He was also a team man. But as the leader of PTI, Imran has been a one-man army. Just watch the election videos: PTI rode on his charisma.
As a politician, Imran cleverly balances seeming contradictions. He blends anti-Americanism, a vision for economic development and extreme social conservatism into a saleable cocktail. The young, it seems, have largely voted for him as he signifies a break from the past and offers something new and hopeful. But he also has the backing of Pakistan’s permanent power centre: the Army.
“He is their puppet,” political scientist C Christine Fair told New York Times, “He is where he is now because of the army and ISI.” Imran has “supported the blasphemy law, which urges the death penalty be imposed on anyone found insulting Islam or the Prophet Muhammad.” PTI’s position on the 2014 Peshawar school attack was also controversial. The night-clubber of the past is hardly a paragon of progressiveness today.
In this general election, psephologists had predicted a tight contest between PML(N) and PTI, with PPP emerging as a possible kingmaker. They were proved wrong. PTI’s red-and-green flag is fluttering all over Pakistan and Imran is within touching distance of the prime minister’s seat. A paean posted on the PTI website seems true today: “Sabka maan Imran tum hi ho/ desh ki jaan Imran tum hi ho/ Pakistan Imran tum hi ho.” And the last line of the book, “Pakistan: A Personal History” (June 2011), written by him, has come true, “... Tehreek-e-Insaf is the idea whose time has come.”
The cricketer
On field, an autocratic, inspirational leader, July 27, 2018: The Times of India
As captain, Imran was almost dictatorial, but also stood by his players. He commanded fierce loyalty from his team.
Replicating that performance as Pakistan’s PM will be tough, especially since Imran will have to deal with the army, but as his fans know, he’s never shied away from challenges.
A self-confessed admirer, at least of Imran the player, former cricketer Sanjay Manjrekar says of Imran in his book, ‘Imperfect’, “I could find no fault with Imran Khan Niazi. He had me even before hello. Those were the days when the Pakistan team was notorious for fielding thirteen men against the opposition — Shakoor Rana and Khizer Hayat or any of their two local umpires providing them great support. But Imran said, ‘No more’. And in that big series against India, he single-handedly ensured we had neutral umpires.” Manjrekar writes, “Captaining a team known for rustic behaviour, he would become the biggest rascal of them all. His cursing was a big part of his cricket... It was a sight to behold when he let it rip at himself or his team in the language of the common Pakistani.”
He also narrates an anecdote on how Imran would micro-manage the team. “A young bowler once stood at the top of his run and didn’t run in right away. After a few seconds passed, Imran shouted at him from mid-on, ‘Why aren’t you bowling?’ The reply was: ‘You didn’t tell me what to bowl.’
Marital status
Jemima Goldsmith(1995-2004),Reham Khan (2014-15)
Imran Khan marries former BBC presenter: Reports | Jan 1, 2015 PTI
Imran says reports about his re-marriage `greatly exaggerated' [1] Jan 02 2015
Jemima Goldsmith
Imran first married Jemima Goldsmith and had two sons with her, Sulaiman Isa and Kasim. The couple divorced in 2004.
Jemima had revealed in October 2014 that she was dropping the surname 'Khan' and reverting to her family name because her ex-husband was about to remarry.
She said at the time: "My ex-husband, Imran, recently announced that he intended to get remarried soon, which made me think it's probably time to change my name back to Goldsmith."
Reham Khan
In late 2014 cricketer-turned-politician Imran Khan secretly married a former BBC anchor Reham Khan in a hush hush wedding, .
Then 62-year-old Imran [born 1952] tied the knot in Dec 2014 with Pakistani news anchor Reham [born 1973], then 41, who was a divorcee and mother-of-three.
She lived in Britain for part of her previous marriage, when she was a weather girl and presenter on the BBC regional news programme 'South Today'.
A family friend said that relatives including his sisters were against the marriage and were surprised he went ahead.
“The reports of my marriage are greatly exaggerated,“ the Pakistan Tahreek-i-Insaf (PTI) Chairman initially tweeted about these reports, before ultimately confirming them. “I want to say that I have, in the presence of my supporters, publicly expressed my wish to remarry. However, marriage cannot be entered into lightly. Second marriages especially need to be considered carefully as children are involved. It is only respectful that we wait for an appropriate time.”
Reham Khan did not categorically deny the reports about her marriage either.
The day after the controversy broke, ratings of Reham's political talk-show `In Focus with Reham Khan' on DawnNews incredibly shot up
2018, Jan: proposes to faith-healer, Manek, marries on 18 Feb
Jan 2018: I only proposed, did not get married: Imran
Islamabad: Pakistan’s opposition leader and cricketer- turned politician Imran Khan said in Jan 2018 that he has proposed marriage to a woman believed to be a faith healer but denied reports that he had secretly wed her.
Khan’s spokesman said in a statement he had proposed to Bushra Maneka, who has “asked for time to make a final decision after consulting her family, including her children”. (PTI)
Last year, a local newspaper had reported that for quite some time, Khan had been quietly visiting a remote town in Sahiwal where he stays “for a few hours at the residence of his hosts, who belong to influential Maneka clan, with whom he is said to have a spiritual bond”.
The report suggested that Khan met there with Bushra Maneka, known as Pinky in the area, for spiritual advice.
Also on 7 Jan 18, Khawar Fareed Maneka, Bushra Maneka’s ex-husband, released a video statement on social media in which he deplored the manner in which a specific media outlet reported on the issue.
“Whatever a specific media outlet has been reporting the issue, it is a matter of grave concern for me. It is misleading and baseless and caused distress to my whole family,” said Khawar Maneka, who is a senior government official.
“I categorically deny the claim that some dispute had emerged between me and my ex-wife [that led to our divorce] due to Imran Khan. My former wife is the most-pious wife in the world. Imran Khan gives great value to our spiritual family. I have not seen such a great person (Imran Khan). May God give him success,” Khawar Maneka said in the video statement.
Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) asked Bushra to marry Imran
Prophet PBUH Came to Bushra Maneka’s Dream, Asked to Marry Imran Khan: Javaed Ch | January 11, 2018 | Mera Mirpur Posted on by
Famous Columnist, Javed Ch, wrote in his latest column about marriage of Imran Khan and Bushra Maneka.
Javed Ch writes in his colum, Khawar Fareed Maneka is officer in Custom Department and belongs to Maneka Family of Pakpattan, and are followers of Baba Fareed Gunj Shakar. Khawar Fareed’s father named Ghulam Muhammad Maneka was a politician. During Benazir Bhutto tenure served as Federal minister of Pakistan and died in late 2011.
Khawar Fareed’s brother named Ahmad Raza Maneka contested election on PIT platform from NA 165 in 2013 elections.
Khawar Fareed is highly qualified from USA and was described as sports car loving rich student. He came back to Pakistan in 1983, passed out CSS Exam and joined Custom Department and is grade 21 officer now.
He married Bushra Riaz of Watto Family belonging from Dipalpur village. Couple has 5 children, 3 daughters and 2 sons from this marriage. One of their daughter is married to son of Atta Maneka, a Punjab Minister. While their 2 sons Ibrahim Maneka and Musa Maneka are foreign qualified.
Khawar Fareed has a double personality, He is Custom Officer and belongs to a Sufi Spiritual Family as well. Being a custom officer he has not a good reputation, he was posted in all major cities of Pakistan. But due to bad reputation he could stay longer in any post.
His Junior staff members always blamed him for corruption. He was famous in receiving gifts, while he was posted in Multan, a clearance agent came to see him, he was wearing a Rolex Watch, Khawar Maneka liked the watch and clearance agent had to gift him, his watch. Now a days he has good reputation and has dedicated himself to spirituality.
Bushra Maneka was described as a lady with modern thoughts, but later she dedicated her life to Spirituality and became famous with name, Pinky Aunty. Imran Khan first met with the lady in 2015 and during the short meetings, Imran Khan was impressed by the lady known as Pinky Aunty in the area.
Imran Khan started regular meetings with the Maneka family, during this time spiritual lady told Imran Khan about Wazaif and also gave him a ring for blessings. She also use to tell Imran Khan about the times of pubic meetings and speeches.
The spiritual relationship between Imran Khan and Bushra Maneka continued, but Bushra Maneka’s relationship with her husband Khawar Maneka got tensed and she filed for divorce from him.
There are two information about the divorce:
“Bushra Maneka told her husband Khawar Fareed that, Prophet Muhammad PBUH came in to her dream and asked to her to divorce [her] husband and marry Imran Khan”
After marrying Imran Khan, all the problems of Imran Khan will be resolved and he will became Prime Minister of Pakistan afterwards Pakistan will start progressing.
Her husband Khwar Fareed Maneka [broke] her 30 years old marriage with Bushra Maneka for [the sake of] Pakistan. [He laid down his wife for his country.] Bushra Maneka shifted to Lahore after divorce and started living in Lahore with her mother. As her Iddat period was over, Imran Khan send her marriage proposal.
According to second information, Bushra Maneka took Khulla [divorce initiated by the wife] from her husband and completed the Iddat period and married Imran Khan on 1st January 2018 in Lahore. Both are waiting for spiritually right time to announce their marriage.
On other side, Ex Husband Khawar Maneka and PTI gave a statement that Imran Khan has not married her yet. While ex husband told media that, it was not domestic issues which cause the divorce but a spiritual issue.
On other side after column of Javaid Ch, Bushra Maneka told media that she and family is true believer of Sufism, and that she has not dreamed about divorcing her husband Khawar Maneka and to marry Imran Khan. She told, “If she was capable of dreaming about her future then she would have save her marriage.”
Divorce from Reham
Oct 2015: Divorce
The Times of India, Oct 31 2015
Omer Farooq Khan
Imran Khan, wife announce divorce
Pakistani cricketer-turned-politician Imran Khan, 62, and his TV journalist wife, Reham Khan, 41, on Friday announced their divorce with mutual consent after a 10-month marriage. Imran's Pakistan Tehreeki-Insaf (PTI) spokesman Naeemul Haque made the announcement on the ex-cricketer's official Facebook page before the couple confirmed the decision to part ways on Twitter.“This is an extremely painful matter but I can confirm that they have mutually agreed on the divorce,“ he said. “There will be no further communication in this respect.“ “I would request everyone to respect our privacy ,“ Khan tweeted. He added he has “greatest respect“ for Reham's moral character and passion to work for and help the under privileged while denying rumours about any financial settlement between them.
Rumours about the marriage being on the verge of collapse had been doing rounds since Imran announced Reham would no longer participate in politics or hold any party office following PTI's defeat in a bye-election. “I am appalled & disgusted by attacks on Reham after our loss in NA (National Assembly) 19 election. She only went to campaign there on insistence of the candidate,“ Imran had then said. It is believed Imran's relationship with Reham soured after she wanted to take active part in politics. Imran did not like it.
Until recently , the excricketer had been denying reports about his rocky relationship with Reham. “I am shocked at a TV channel making slanderous statement about my marriage. I strongly urge the media to desist from such baseless statements,“ he had tweeted in September. The 62-yearold had divorced his first wife, Jemima Goldsmith, in 2004. He had married the TV journalist and mother of three in January against his party and family's wishes.
Reham had recently sparked controversy after it emerged she had not attended college in England, which she had claimed on her website. Her previous marriage had ended after 15 years in 2005. Her ex-husband, Ijaz Rehman, had called Reham an ambitious woman who had used him.
Reham tried to poison Imran?
Oneindia Imran Khan-Reham divorce: PTI chief's wife tried to poison him for political gains? Oneindia | 5th Nov, 2015 05:08 PM
Islamabad, Nov 5: At a time when people are still wondering why Imran Khan ended his 10-month-old marriage with wife Reham Khan, reports now claim that the main reason for the divorce was that Reham tried to poison the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) chairman.
Reports say, Reham allegedly tried to poison her husband Imran Khan to grab his political legacy.
"She wanted to get involved with politics and that is not what Khan wanted at all. She just did not want to sit at home," he said. This further cements the above claim.
November 2015
The Times of India, Nov 06 2015
Sameer Arshad
Pak media agog with reports of Reham's `bid to poison' Imran
Was an abortive bid to slow poison iconic cricketer-turnedpolitician Imran Khan to grab his political legacy the last straw that forced him to divorce his journalist wife, Reham Khan? This is one of the theories making rounds since the two announced the splitsville on October 30. Imran, 62, and Reham, 42, are yet to divulge reasons for parting ways, fuelling a barrage of speculative reports about the divorce. Journalist Arif Nizami’s revelation about the attempted poisoning citing intelligence sources has been among the most dramatic reports explaining the divorce.
“Intelligence agencies conveyed to Imran through his close friends that Reham’s intentions were not right. It was feared she could poison Imran to capture his party reigns,” Nizami told Pakistan’s News 24 channel.
His theory carries weight as he is known for his nose for breaking news. He had broken the story about Imran and Reham’s marriage in December 2014 and the divorce last month. Nizami drew flak but stood by his report in September. He has maintained Reham had made Imran’s life hell and the decision to annual the marriage was not mutual at all. According to Nizami, the couple had frequent fights and Reham stayed put at Imran’s hilltop Islamabad mansion. He added she anticipated Imran’s intention to end the marriage and insisted the excricketer was hoping her to leave the house to get rid of her.
Nizami told the channel the two fought bitterly two days before the divorce was an nounced after Reham told Imran she would tell him how to run his Pakistan Tehreek-eInsaf (PTI). Another journalist Shahid Masood, who claims he had tried to dissuade Imran from marrying Reham, echoed Nizami. He revealed traces of rodent poison in Imran after he was taken ill and was admitted to a hospital after having a ladoo.
2018, Feb: Reham flees Pak citing threat to life
Islamabad: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chairman Imran Khan’s ex-wife, Reham Khan, has left Pakistan citing threats to her life from unknown individuals.
Speaking to a Geo News anchor, Reham confirmed she had left Pakistan on Sunday night as she had been receiving threats through phone calls made to her staff.
Reham said she was extremely distressed over the discontinuation of her daughter’s schooling due to the threats. “None of the political parties is standing by me... My staff was receiving threats since September but now these have increased. So, I’ve decided to leave Pakistan.”
According to Reham, several former cricketers had called her and advised her to forget Imran Khan and not to get into any fight with him.
The development comes days after Reham told an Indian news channel during an interview that she believes she will have to break her silence over certain things in her knowledge. “There are many matters that I have remained silent about, but now... I feel I will soon have to break my silence,” she said.
2018: Reham’s upcoming book stirs political storm
Omer Farooq Khan TNN | Reham Khan’s upcoming book stirs political storm | The Times of India
The leaked content of the upcoming book by Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) chairman Imran Khan’s ex-wife Reham Khan has stirred a political storm ahead of its publication.
A day after the manuscript of Reham’s book was leaked online, many PTI leaders took to Twitter to accuse her of being part of an agenda to malign Imran Khan’s character and reputation ahead of the upcoming general elections. The book is said to revolve around Reham’s marriage to Khan.
Salman Ahmad, one of Pakistan’s most famous musicians and a PTI member, alleged that Reham had taken £100,000 million from Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) to malign her former husband.
“A close source has informed me that Reham was given £0.1m (Indian Rs 89.3 lakh approx.) from PML-N to write the book,” he , adding that she had also offered him money to malign Imran Khan. “I have all the evidence. I have the email that she had sent me,” he said. “According to her, Imran Khan is a hypocrite and a liar who doesn’t fast or pray.”
Pakistani actor Hamza Ali Abbasi, who is also a supporter of PTI, has also tweeted how he had the “unfortunate experience of reading a manuscript of Reham Khan’s book”. According to him, the summary of the book is that “Imran Khan is the most evil man to walk the face of this planet. Reham is the most pious righteous woman ever and Shahbaz Sharif (former PM Nawaz Sharif ’s brother) is an amazing guy”.
In response, Reham posted on social media an email sent to her by Abbasi last year, saying that PTI had substantial data against her provided by some “agency or hackers”.
In a tweet, Reham wondered how it was possible for the actor to read the manuscript of her book, since it had not been released yet. “Only possible through fraud or theft,” she said.
PTI’s spokesperson Fawad Chaudhry said the timing of the book’s release was aimed at defaming PTI. “I will call it pre-poll rigging,” he said. Chaudhry accused Reham of meeting Maryam Nawaz, ousted PM Nawaz Sharif ’s daughter, saying his party had solid evidence to prove the claim. According to him, the meetings were arranged by former interior minister Ahsan Iqbal.
As the controversy deepened, Dr Ijaz Rehman, Reham’s former husband, vowed to expose the “truth” regarding Reham Khan very soon. “This truth will highlight Reham’s ‘drug addictions’, ‘affairs’ and violence,” Rehman said.
According to PTI sources, Imran and a few other party leaders came across the script of Reham’s book after it was leaked on social media. “A meeting was held during which the party decided to counter the contents of the book and PTI social media accounts subsequently sent out tweets in condemnation of Reham,” sources said.
Earlier, Imran’s close friend and London-based businessman Zulfiqar Bukhari threatened to take legal action against Reham over her upcoming book.
For some social media users, the PTI has effectively provided Reham much-needed publicity for her book before its launch.
