Kapil Dev and Sunil Gavaskar were among the signatories in the letter who were also part of the one that was issued earlier this year. (Express Photo)Twenty-one former international captains from around the world have written to Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, renewing their appeal for medical treatment for former captain Imran Khan. The signatories include former India captains Sunil Gavaskar, Kapil Dev and Dilip Vengsarkar.The latest letter marks the former captains’ second appeal to Pakistan’s Prime Minister in six months. In February, 14 former captains had written to Sharif expressing concern over Khan’s health after reports of an eye condition that his family said had left him almost completely blind in one eye, amid allegations of medical neglect in prison.“Dear Prime Minister, six months ago, fourteen former international cricket captains wrote to you and the Pakistani government appealing for humane treatment and proper medical care for Imran Khan. We wrote then not as politicians, but as former colleagues and rivals who share a bond forged on the cricket field, one that transcends the borders and disputes that too often divide countries. We write again now, joined by seven further former captains, because of what has reportedly just occurred,” the letter read.“Pakistan’s Supreme Court ordered that Imran Khan be transferred to a hospital for examination by a medical board that was to include his own personal physicians and his sister, Dr Uzma Khan. The Court also reinstated weekly family visits. These were very welcome steps.”“Concerningly, Mr Khan’s hospital stay lasted only a few hours. He was examined by a state-appointed team rather than the board the Court had directed, declared ‘medically fit,’ and returned to Adiala Jail before that board could complete its work. His family and legal team say this falls short of what the court ordered,” the letter added.Their letter made three specific requests:1. That the medical board directed by the Supreme Court – including Mr Khan’s own doctors – be permitted to complete a full and independent assessment of his health, particularly the reported loss of vision in his right eye.2. That the weekly family visits reinstated by the Court be honoured without interruption or administrative delay.3. That whatever the outcome of that medical assessment, the treatment recommended by it be provided without delay.“Whatever the legal and political arguments surrounding his case, the basic decency of ensuring a court-ordered medical process is actually completed is not, in our view, a controversial request. It is one we believe every nation that plays this game would recognise as fair,” the letter said.Imran, who served as Pakistan’s prime minister from 2018 to 2022, has received multiple prison sentences since his removal from office. These include corruption convictions carrying sentences of 10, 14 and 17 years. Ahead of the 2024 elections, he received a seven-year sentence in a case concerning the timing of his marriage to his current wife following her divorce.Story continues below this adMichael Atherton, Alex Blackwell, Allan Border, Michael Brearley, Greg Chappell, Ian Chappell, Belinda Clark, Alastair Cook, Michael Gatting, Sunil Gavaskar, Lee Germon, Adam Gilchrist, David Gower, Kim Hughes, Nasser Hussain, Clive Lloyd, Kapil Dev, Arjuna Ranatunga, Andrew Strauss, Dilip Vengsarkar, Steve Waugh, John Wright