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Imran was born on 25 November 1952 in Lahore, Pakistan. He grew up in Zaman
Park
where cricket was a great part of his family life, his cousins Javed
Burki and Majid Khan
later captained Pakistan.
Imran was educated at the prestigious Aitchison College, Lahore where he
proved to be a fine
batsman and made his first class test debut for Lahore
against Sarghodha at the age of sixteen.
He made his test debut in England, 1971 as a raw 18 year old but only got to
play one match
and failed to show his full potential. However, Imran had
left an impression on Worcestershire's wing
commander William Shakespeare
who had also seen him play in Pakistan and decided to sign up Imran.
Imran studied for his A-levels at the Royal Grammar School, Worcester and
then went onto study Economics and
Politics at Keble College, Oxford in
1972, where Benazir Bhutto was his classmate. He was elected captain
of
Oxford in 1974 but gave up the captaincy in 1975 to concentrate on final exams.
He started playing for Worcestershire in 1975 after completing his education and in 1977 moved to Sussex.
His star status was established during the 1980's and crowds mobbed him
wherever he went. All young budding
cricketers wanted to be like him and he
also had a great female following. Imran was not expecting this sort of
adulation and his parents made him realise that he should always keep his
feet firmly on the ground and that this was
all bestowed upon him by God.
Imran was declared the international cricketer of the year in 1989-90
Imran's desire was to be recognised as the best all rounder in Pakistan and
eventually as the best all rounder in the
world, which he successfully
managed to achieve. In his peak, he was considered the fastest bowler in the
world.
Imran married Jemima Goldsmith, daughter of the late multi millionaire, Sir James Goldsmith in 1995.
She had accepted Islam and taken on the name of Haiqa.
Many people thought this marriage was a mistake and would be doomed as Jemima was non muslim and also thought of as an immature girl who would not make a good wife.
The western media criticised the wedding thinking that Jemima was being naive and would not be able to cope with a different culture.
However Jemima has to date proved everyone wrong, although there have been some ups and downs in the marriage but which marriage doesn't go through those?
Jemima has tried her level best to fit in with the people of Pakistan by wearing traditional clothes and learning about the culture and language, she is also actively involved in charity work.
The late Princess Diana, a close friend of Jemima seeked the couples assistance during her troubled relationship with Dr. Hasnat Khan.
Imran and Jemima have two sons named Suleiman and Kasim.
