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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
World
Emma Graham-Harrison

From playboy cricketer to populist politician: how Imran Khan’s promises to Pakistan fell away

Pakistan's former prime minister Imran Khan during an interview from his home In Lahore after being surrounded by police in May.
Pakistan's former prime minister Imran Khan at his home In Lahore after it was surrounded by police in May. Photograph: Arif Ali/AFP/Getty Images

From a playboy cricket celebrity with a British socialite wife to a conservative populist dubbed “Taliban Khan” by opponents for his flirtation with extreme views, Imran Khan’s life has traced an arc stranger and more colourful than most films.

He reached the top of sporting and political life, guiding Pakistan to its only Cricket World Cup win in his first career, and then defied mocking journalists and dismissive political veterans to make his upstart party a major force and to ultimately become prime minister.

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