Who is Imran Khan? What We Know About Shot Ex-Pakistani Premier

Table of Contents

Key Facts About Imran Khan

He is a Pakistani politician and ex-cricketer.
He founded and chairs Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf.
Imran Ahmed Khan Niazi is his full name.
He played professional cricket until 1992.
Imran Khan is a Muslim.
His paternal family is Pashtun Niazi.
His parents are Ikramullah Khan Niazi and Shaukat Khanum.
He was Pakistan’s PM from August 2018 to April 2022.
He was shot while leading a march to demand snap elections.
He was known as a playboy in London’s nightclubs.
His children are Sulaiman Isa and Kasim.
He was born on October 5, 1952.
His estimated net worth is $50 million.

Who is Imran Khan?

Imran Khan is a politician and former cricketer from Pakistan. From August 2018 to April 2022, he was Pakistan’s 22nd prime minister. He was ousted by a no-confidence motion. He founded and chairs Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), a major political party. He was born on October 5, 1952. Imran Ahmed Khan Niazi is his full name. Imran Khan, a Niazi Pashtun from Lahore, graduated from Keble College in 1975. At the tender age of 18, he made his debut in an international cricket match against England in 1971. Imran Khan played until 1992, was captain between 1982 and 1992, and won Pakistan’s only Cricket World Cup in 1992. Imran Khan, one of cricket’s greatest all-rounders, scored 3,807 runs and took 362 wickets in Test cricket. Before entering politics, Imran Khan established cancer hospitals in Lahore and Peshawar and Namal College in Mianwali. Imran Khan served as an opposition member from Mianwali until 2007 after founding the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) in 1996. PTI boycotted the 2008 election but was the second-largest party in 2013. Running on a populist platform, PTI won the 2018 Pakistani election and formed a coalition government with independents under Imran Khan.

Imran Khan’s government addressed a balance-of-payments crisis with an IMF bailout. He reduced the current account deficit and defense spending to reduce the fiscal deficit, leading to economic growth. He increased tax collection and investment and reformed the country’s social safety net, Ehsaas. His government launched Plant for Pakistan, expanded Pakistan’s protected areas, and oversaw the COVID-19 pandemic. Failure to revive the economy and rising inflation cost him politically. Despite his anti-corruption campaign, corruption worsened during his rule. He was accused of victimizing political opponents and stifling dissent. Imran Khan, the country’s first prime minister to be ousted by a no-confidence vote in parliament, was charged in August 2022 under anti-terror laws after accusing the police and judiciary of detaining and torturing his close aide. Imran Khan survived an attempt on his life on November 3, 2022, in Wazirabad. He blamed the attack on Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Inter-Services Intelligence.

Imran Khan was wounded in the leg or foot while speaking to supporters at a gathering in Wazirabad, Punjab, and heading the march on Islamabad to demand snap elections after he was overthrown. Local news footage showed Imran Khan being carried away and put in a car with a bandaged leg. His situation wasn’t critical. The shooting killed a PTI supporter and wounded eight others. The attacker claimed he wanted to target Imran Khan for “promoting hatred and misleading people.”

He has a $130,000 house in Zaman Park, Lahore. Imran Khan has invested over US$180,000 in businesses. He owns 39 kanals in Talhar, Islamabad, and 530 in Khanewal. He inherited 363 kanals of farmland. Imran Khan bought two apartments in Islamabad for US$45,000. Other assets include $2,600 in furnishings and $880 in cattle. He doesn’t own a car. Imran Khan owns a 300-kanal home in Bani Gala, Islamabad. Imran Khan told the ECP it was a gift. The mansion has a private gated driveway. Pakistani media uncovered Imran Khan’s 37-year tax history in November 2019 using FBR statements. Imran Khan paid US$450 in tax in 2017 and US$89,000 in tax up to 2019. The FBR filings also reveal that he was tax-exempt during this time. Imran Khan paid US$42,914 in taxes in 2019, according to FBR’s 2019 tax directory for legislators.

Imran Khan Early Life

Imran Khan was born on October 5, 1952, in Lahore. There are rumors that he was born on November 25, 1952. Pakistan Cricket Board officials reportedly misdated his passport to November 25. He’s the only son of civil engineer Ikramullah Khan Niazi and his wife Shaukat Khanum. His paternal family is Pashtun and from the Niazi tribe; one of his ancestors, Haibat Khan Niazi, was Sher Shah Suri’s governor of Punjab in the 16th century. Imran Khan’s mother was a Pashtun from the Burki tribe whose ancestors had lived in Jalandhar for centuries. She moved to Lahore with Imran Khan’s maternal relatives after Pakistan’s creation. Javed Burki and Majid Khan, Imran Khan’s cousins, have represented Pakistan as cricketers. Pir Roshan, the Sufi warrior-poet and inventor of the Pashto alphabet, was from Imran Khan’s maternal family’s ancestral Kaniguram town in South Waziristan, northwest Pakistan. His maternal family is from Basti Danishmanda, Jalandhar, India. Imran Khan grew up quiet and shy in affluent, upper middle-class circumstances with his sisters.

Imran Khan Education

Imran Khane received his education in Lahore at Aitchison College and Cathedral School, and then continued his education in England at the Royal Grammar School Worcester, where he excelled in the sport of cricket. In 1972, he became a student at Keble College, Oxford, majoring in Philosophy, Politics, and Economics. He received his degree from that institution in 1975. After being rejected by Cambridge, Imran Khan was able to enroll at Keble College thanks to the efforts of Paul Hayes, who was passionate about the college cricket team there. Imran Khan had previously applied to Cambridge.

Imran Khan Career

Imran Khan made his first-class cricket debut at age 16 at Lahore. By the 1970s, he was playing for Lahore A, B, Greens, and A. (1970–71). Imran Khan played for Oxford Blues in 1973–1975. He played for Worcestershire throughout 1971 to 1976. Imran Khan represented Dawood Industries (1975–1976) and Pakistan International Airlines (1975–1976 to 1980–1981). He played for Sussex from 1983-1988. Imran Khan played his first Test match in June 1971 against England at Edgbaston. In 1974, he made his ODI debut against England at Trent Bridge for the Prudential Trophy. After graduating from Oxford and playing for Worcestershire, he returned to Pakistan in 1976 and joined the national squad for the 1976–1977 season against New Zealand and Australia. After touring Australia, he met Tony Greig, who signed him up for Kerry Packer’s World Series Cricket. In 1978, he finished third in a fast bowling tournament at Perth, behind Jeff Thomson and Michael Holding, but ahead of Dennis Lillee, Garth Le Roux, and Andy Roberts. Imran Khan pioneered reverse swing bowling in the 1970s. Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis eventually perfected and popularized this move.

Imran Khan was a medium-pace, chest-on bowler. He worked hard to make his movement more classical and to strengthen his physique to bowl fast. Imran Khan was a top fast bowler from January 1980 to 1988. Imran took 236 test wickets at 17.77 per, with 18 five-wicket hauls and 5 10-wicket hauls. Richard Hadlee (19.03), Malcolm Marshall (20.20), Dennis Lillee (24.07), Joel Garner (20.62), and Michael Holding bowled worse (23.68). In 1983 against India, he bowled 922 overs. Imran Khan’s form and performance during this period ranks third in the ICC’s All-Time Test Bowling Rankings. Imran Khan achieved the all-triple rounder’s in 75 Tests, second-fastest behind Ian Botham’s 72. He has the second-highest batting average for a Test batsman batting sixth, 61.86. His last Test was against Sri Lanka in Faisalabad in January 1992. Imran Khan retired six months after his last ODI, the 1992 World Cup final in Melbourne, Australia. He played 88 Tests, 126 innings, and scored 3807 runs at 37.69, including six centuries and 18 fifties. He got 136. First Pakistani and fourth bowler in the world to take 362 Test wickets. In 175 ODIs, he scored 3709 runs at 33.41. He got 102 not out. His 6 wickets for 14 runs in a losing ODI innings is a record.

Imran Khan took over as Pakistan cricket captain from Javed Miandad in 1982. Imran Khan captained Pakistan in 48 Tests, winning 14, losing 8, and drawing 26. In 139 ODIs, he won 77, lost 57, and tied one. Imran Khan guided the squad to its first English Test win in 28 years at Lord’s. First year as captain was Imran Khan’s best as a fast bowler and all-rounder. In 1981–1982, against Sri Lanka in Lahore, he took 8 wickets for 58 runs. In 1982, he took 21 wickets and averaged 56 runs against England in three Tests. Later that year, he took 40 wickets in six Tests against India, averaging 13.95. Imran Khan took 88 wickets in 13 Tests as captain in 1982–83. This same Test series against India caused a stress fracture in his shin that sidelined him for two years. A government-funded experimental treatment helped him heal by 1984, and he returned to international cricket in 1985. In 1987, Imran Khan led Pakistan to its first Test series triumph in India, followed by its first in England. His team recorded three draws against the West Indies in the 1980s. India and Pakistan co-hosted the 1987 Cricket World Cup, however neither advanced. Imran Khan retired after World Cup. In 1988, President Zia-Ul-Haq urged him to return as captain, and he did so on January 18. Imran Khan led Pakistan to another successful tour in the West Indies, which he called “the last time I bowled well.” In 1988, he grabbed 23 wickets in 3 Tests and was named Man of the Series. Imran Khan’s career pinnacle was winning the 1992 Cricket World Cup with Pakistan. Imran Khan promoted himself as a batsman to play with Javed Miandad in the top order, but his bowling was modest. Imran Khan claimed the winning wicket at 39.

Imran Khan retired and said there was ball manipulation in his early domestic days. Imran Khan said he “sometimes scraped the ball and lifted the seam”. Imran Khan defended his actions in the same interview, arguing his conduct was commonplace at the time, even that spin bowlers would lift the seam (i.e. mildly ball tamper). Imran Khan argued that as he did not lift the seam of the ball above the normal level, he was not violating the rules and spirit of the game while he was a player. Imran Khan maintained that umpires had never complained about his conduct in 21 years of cricket. Imran Khan successfully defended himself in a 1996 libel action launched by former English captain and all-rounder Ian Botham and batsman Allan Lamb for statements Imran Khan allegedly made in two articles about ball-tampering and another piece published in India Today. Imran Khan labeled the two cricketers “racist, ill-educated, and classless” Imran Khan said he was misquoted after admitting he tampered with a ball 18 years ago. The jury ruled 10–2 in favor of Imran Khan in a libel case the judge called “a complete exercise in futility.” Imran Khan coached a domestic league. Imran Khan was university chancellor from 2005 to 2014. Since retirement, Imran Khan has written cricket opinion pieces for British and Asian newspapers, notably about Pakistan. Outlook, Guardian, Independent, and Telegraph have published his contributions. Imran Khan is a cricket analyst for BBC Urdu and Star TV. In 2004, when India toured Pakistan after 14 years, he was a commentator on TEN Sports’ Straight Drive and a columnist for SIFY for the 2005 India-Pakistan Test series. Since 1992, he’s analyzed every cricket World Cup, including the 1999 tournament. As a captain, he owns the world records for most wickets, greatest bowling strike rate, best bowling average, best bowling figures (8 wickets for 60 runs), and most five-wicket hauls (6) in a Test innings in wins. Imran Khan succeeded Baroness Lockwood as chancellor of Bradford University on November 23, 2005. On February 26, 2014, University of Bradford Union proposed removing Imran Khan for missing every graduation since 2010. Imran Khan resigned on November 30, 2014, citing “growing political obligations.” Vice-chancellor Brian Cantor called Imran Khan a “great role model”

During his career, Imran Khan was offered political roles. In 1987, then-President Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq offered him a political position in the Pakistan Muslim League. Nawaz Sharif asked him to join his party. Imran Khan served as Moeen Qureshi’s tourist ambassador for three months in 1993. Imran Khan launched Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf in 1996. He contested for National Assembly of Pakistan as a PTI candidate in 1997, but lost both seats to PML candidates. Imran Khan supported Pervez Musharraf’s 1999 military coup, believing he would “eliminate corruption, clean out political mafias.” Imran Khan was Musharraf’s choice for PM in 2002 but declined. In the October 2002 Pakistani general election, Imran Khan was willing to create a coalition if his party didn’t win a majority. He won the election in Mianwali. Imran Khan supported General Musharraf in the 2002 referendum, which major democratic parties called unlawful. He sat on the Kashmir and Public Accounts Standing Committees. Imran Khan was credited by The New Yorker with attracting attention in the Muslim world to a Newsweek story about alleged Qur’an sacrilege at Guantánamo Bay Naval Base in Cuba. Imran Khan faced political opponents in June 2007.

Imran Khan resigned from Parliament on October 2, 2007, as part of the All Parties Democratic Movement to protest general Musharraf’s candidacy for president without quitting as army head. On November 3, 2007, President Musharraf put Imran Khan under house arrest. Imran Khan fled and hid. He emerged from hiding on November 14, 2007, to join a student protest at Punjab University. Imran Khan was beaten at a gathering by Islami Jamiat-e-Talaba students. During the protest, he was detained and transferred to the Dera Ghazi Khan jail in Punjab. On October 30, 2011, Imran Khan challenged the government’s policies, calling the new change a “tsunami” against the ruling parties. Karachi witnessed another successful mass gathering on December 25, 2011. Since then, Imran Khan has become a political challenge to Pakistan’s ruling parties. Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf is the most popular party in Pakistan, according to an International Republican Institute survey. Imran Khan joined a protest caravan from Islamabad to Kotai, South Waziristan, on October 6, 2012, against US drone missile operations. Imran Khan launched his election campaign on March 23, 2013, with the Naya Pakistan Resolution. Imran Khan and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf are the primary opposition to PML-N, according to The Observer. Imran Khan and Nawaz Sharif feuded from 2011 until 2013. Imran Khan addressed his largest crowd at Minar-e-Pakistan in Lahore in late 2011. The PML-N and PTI began criticizing each other on April 26, 2013, before of the elections.

Imran Khan became Pakistan’s 22nd prime minister on August 17, 2018, and took office on August 18, 2018. Imran Khan appointed Sohail Mahmood as Foreign Secretary, Rizwan Ahmed as Maritime Secretary, and Naveed Kamran Baloch as Finance Secretary. First, he appointed Lt. Gen. Asim Munir as Director-General of Inter-Services Intelligence. Imran Khan unveiled his cabinet after taking oath, keeping the Interior Ministry to himself. Ijaz Ahmed Shah afterwards became interior minister. Some of his appointees were defectors from the left-wing People’s Party. Imran Khan reshuffled the interior, finance, information, and planning ministries in 2019. Imran Khan said Pakistan must prioritize good relations with Saudi Arabia owing to an economic crisis. Imran Khan prioritizes good connections with China, stating he “didn’t know” anything about Muslim concentration camps. Imran Khan confirmed raising the issue “privately” with China. Time magazine’s 2019 100 Most Influential People list includes Imran Khan. Opposition parties submitted a no-confidence resolution against him on March 8, 2022. On April 1, 2022, Prime Minister Imran Khan revealed that three choices were discussed with “establishment” over the no-confidence motion against him in the National Assembly: resignation, no-confidence, or elections. Imran Khan encouraged Pakistan’s president to dissolve the National Assembly on April 3, 2022. Imran Khan ceased to be Pakistan’s prime minister after the National Assembly was dissolved. According to article 224 (A) of the Pakistani constitution, an incumbent prime minister continues to hold office until a caretaker prime minister is chosen. On April, 10, 2022, a no-confidence vote removed him from office, making him the first prime minister in Pakistan to be removed by a no-confidence vote. Imran Khan said the US removed him because he had an independent foreign policy and good relations with China and Russia. Pakistani supporters protested his ouster.

Imran Khan Ethnicity

Imran Khan’s paternal family is Pashtun and belongs to the Niazi tribe.

Imran Khan Parents

Ikramullah Khan Niazi and Shaukat Khanum are the names of Imran Khan’s father and mother, respectively.

Imran Khan Siblings

The four sisters of Imran Khan are Rubina Khanum, Aleema Khanum, Uzma Khanum, and Rani Khanum.

Imran Khan Religion

Imran Khan definitely identifies as a Muslim.

Imran Khan Relationships & Wives

Imran Khan had many relationships when he was single. He was known at the time as a bachelor who liked to have fun and a playboy who went around London’s nightclubs. The British newspaper The Times referred to several girlfriends as “mystery blondes” due to their lack of public knowledge. Goldie Hawn, Kristiane Backer, Susannah Constantine, Marie Helvin, Caroline Kellett, Liza Campbell, Anastasia Cooke, Hannah Mary Rothschild, and Lulu Blacker are just a few of the women he’s been linked to. Others include Zeenat Aman, Emma Sergeant, Susie Murray-Philipson, Sita White, Sarah Crawley, and Stephanie Beacham.

Imran Khan married Jemima Goldsmith in Paris on May 16, 1995 . Jemima Goldsmith became Muslim after marriage. The couple split on June 22, 2004. Imran Khan married British-Pakistani journalist Reham Imran Khan in his Islamabad home in January 2015. Reham Imran Khan claims in her memoirs that they married in October 2014 but announced it in January 2015. They filed for divorce on October 22, 2015. Imran Khan reportedly married his spiritual guide, Bushra Bibi, in mid-2016, late 2017 and early 2018.

Imran Khan Children

Sulaiman Isa Khan and Kasim Khan are Imran Khan’s two offspring. Jemima Goldsmith is the mother of all known children of Imran Khan.

Imran Khan Social Media

On Instagram, Imran Khan publishes under the name @imrankhan.pti; you may find him there. Additionally, you can find him on Twitter under the username @ImranKhanPTI. On Facebook, he goes by the username @ImranKhanOfficial, while on YouTube, he just goes by the name “Imran Khan.” Every one of his social media profiles has been verified.