Michael Holding's Support for Imran Khan's Treatment
Michael Holding’s voice drops when the name comes up. Imran Khan. Not the World Cup‑winning captain or the charismatic all‑rounder this time, but a 71‑year‑old former Prime Minister sitting in a Pakistani prison without, his family say, even basic comforts like books or proper medical care.
For Holding, who spent a career separating emotion from execution with the ball in hand, this is different. This is personal.
A bond beyond the boundary
The latest storm gathered around Imran during the Lord’s Test between England and Pakistan, when Sky Sports aired an 18‑minute interview Michael Atherton conducted with Imran’s sons, Sulaiman and Kasim. They spoke calmly but starkly about what they see as unfair treatment of their father, outlining claims that he is being denied adequate medical facilities.
The Pakistan Cricket Board, unhappy with the broadcast, even threatened to pull out of the fixture. Sky showed it anyway.
Holding watched all of this with a sense of disbelief. He didn’t just share a field with Imran; he shared time, effort, and a cause.
“I played with Imran, I wouldn't say I played a lot,” Holding told Sports Now. “I played some one-day games with him. I played county cricket, a few games against Imran, but apart from playing with Imran, I have spent time with Imran.”
The memories that matter most to him have nothing to do with wickets or runs. They go back to London, to a different kind of campaign.
“When Imran was going around London looking to garner funds for that cancer hospital, I went around with him, I tried to support him as best as I possibly could, where that was concerned. So I know the man, and I know exactly what type of person that he is.”
The cancer hospital – Shaukat Khanum Memorial – became one of Imran’s defining off‑field legacies. For Holding, it was a window into the character behind the public image.
‘You don’t treat human beings that way’
That is why the current situation cuts so deep for the 72‑year‑old. He does not want a political debate. He wants something more basic.
“And it's extremely sad to see the situation now and what is going on with Imran Khan,” he said, his words carrying the weight of someone who has seen too much to be easily shocked, yet is clearly shaken.
Holding has thrown his weight behind the group of former Pakistan captains who recently wrote a letter calling for humane treatment for Imran. The details of that letter sit in the background; what matters to Holding is the principle.
“I am in total support of the captains who wrote that letter. I don't know what effect it will have, but I am in total support of trying to get the man to be treated just like another human being. You don't treat human beings that way. People who have committed murder aren't treated that way. So I don't see the reason why this man should be treated that way.”
There is no hedging in that assessment. Just a straight line drawn between what he believes is right and what he is seeing.
Jealousy, recognition, and a global figure
Imran remains, even from a prison cell, one of Pakistan’s most recognisable faces. For decades he has been the country’s sporting standard‑bearer abroad, then its political lightning rod at home. That global profile, Holding suggests, may not be helping him now.
“I don't know if there's jealousy involved in this, because Imran Khan. I don't think there's a Pakistani that is more well known around the world than Imran Khan. That is ridiculous, the way the man is being treated,” he added.
The word “ridiculous” hangs in the air. It is not analysis. It is a verdict.
From the Lord’s pavilion to a prison cell in Pakistan, Imran Khan’s story has always been larger than the game. The question now, as voices like Holding’s grow louder, is whether that global stature will finally count for something as basic as books, medicine, and a measure of dignity – or whether one of cricket’s most famous sons will continue to find that, in the end, even a legacy like his offers no protection at all.
