Imran Khan

Imran Khan is a Pakistani former cricketer, philanthropist, and politician who served as the 22nd Prime Minister of Pakistan from August 2018 to April 2022. He was born Imran Ahmed Khan Niazi on October 5, 1952, in Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan, into an upper-middle-class Pakistani family. He attended Aitchison College in Lahore, the Royal Grammar School Worcester in England, and Keble College, Oxford (B.A. in philosophy, politics, and economics, 1975).

His professional cricket career began at age 18 in 1971 with the Pakistan national cricket team. The 21-year Pakistan cricket career (1971–1992) produced his 1992 Cricket World Cup championship — when Khan captained the Pakistan national cricket team to its first Cricket World Cup title in Melbourne, Australia. The 1992 World Cup win established Khan as one of the Pakistani sports figures of the 20th century.

His post-cricket philanthropic work began with his 1994 founding of the Shaukat Khanum Memorial Cancer Hospital and Research Centre in Lahore — named after his mother who had died of ovarian cancer in 1985. The SKMCH-RC has continuously provided free or substantially-subsidized cancer treatment to Pakistani patients regardless of their financial circumstances.

His 1996 founding of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI, "Pakistan Movement for Justice") political party launched his political career. The PTI grew gradually through the 2000s and 2010s before producing his August 2018 election as Pakistani Prime Minister. His 3.6-year prime ministership ended on April 10, 2022, when he was ousted through a parliamentary no-confidence vote. His May 2023 arrest and August 2023 conviction on corruption charges (the Toshakhana case) and his January 2024 conviction on sedition and state-secrets charges have continued through 2024 and 2025. He has been continuously imprisoned since August 2023 at Adiala Jail in Rawalpindi.

His name Imran is from the Arabic 'Imrān, anchored in Quranic tradition through the 'Imran family (the father of Mary mother of Jesus). Imran has been continuously among the most-popular American boys' names for decades.