Imran Khan: The Cricketer, The Celebrity, The Politician Kindle Edition

Having read the Autobiography of Imran Khan "All round view" back in the early 90's, this new biography by a noted biographer was like a sip of water for parched throats. Imran Khan as a wonderful world figure, with all his weaknesses and strengths is highlighted in this excellent read. I would highly recommend it.

This is an excellent biography of Imran Khan by Christopher Sandford which is compulsive reading and is a very balanced account with many funny anecdotes from well sourced individuals who knew him & (many of whom remained anonymous). Personally, as an avid player/administrator on the local Asian Cricket scene in (Sheffield) & fan /follower of (Imran) Pakistani Cricket scene in the 1980s, I knew of his bowling & batting figures in County Cricket.Also, his early cricketing life is extensively covered from 1971 to 1990s with his careers at Oxford, Worcester, Sussex & the Pakistan national team - with the events/happenings during the 1970s, 1980s & 1990s when Pakistan won the World Cricket Cup. Obviously, Imran's legendary love-life is given comprehensive coverage and his test career as Pakistan Captain & the infighting/rivalry within the Pakistani cricket team.In fact, Imran came to Sheffield (not mentioned in the book) I witnessed his visit to Earl Marshal Youth Club & School in September/October 1991, arranged through Chris Searle, Author, Head teacher & Cricket fan. Ironically, his visit to Sheffield proved to be a lucky omen for him & his Pakistan team won the World Cricket Cup in March the following year & by June to beat England in the second Test at Lord's - announced on Meridian Community Radio (1413 MW) as breaking sports news by me!Finally, the book covers his marriage to Jemima in 1995-2004 & quotes her views of the life in Pakistan & Britain. The final chapters covers his eventual success in Pakistani politics in 2002 and his running s with Parvez Musharraf over America's role in the region after 9/11 events & his house arrest in 2007.I strongly recommend you to buy this book & read about this world famous, legendary & iconic Asian sportsman!

I did not like it. I found it to be inaccurate and found that the author was negative with his narration.

Imran Khan was the Face of Pakistan, a country with few national icons, in the 80s and still is. I wanted to know about the cricketing days when Imran was playing the game. I also wanted to know how was county cricket during his time. Then of course, I wanted to know Imran as a person and circumstances that led him to become a social worker and a politician. This book delivered the goods on all these fronts, although it seems that the author was trying to defame Imran and his country. The reality is that under this hidden 'smear campaign' the subject came out bigger and better.I started personally following Imran as a bowler in 1976. I had little memories of his destroying a very strong Australian batting line up in the two innings of 3rd and last test played at Sydney that year. This book enabled me to relive that classic test series that ended in a 1-1 draw.The book walks you through each cricket series in a very absorbing manner. Because I left for my studies in the USA in the mid to late 80s, I missed cricket when Imran led Pakistan to series wins against Australia, England, India and to a drawn series against West Indies on their own home soils, turning Pakistan internationally rated # 1 team. This book brought cricket of that era to life for me.I loved reading the accounts of the 70s and 80s ball by ball, run by run and girl fan by girl fan. The book also sweetly reminded me of the unique bowling style of `Tiger Khan', which used to begin with a mean crouching body position that batsmen seemed to dread, his long hair flowing back in the wind, and that used to culminate in a final characteristic jump and the ball delivery. To my disappointment, the author fails to mention the rivalry amongst the 4 super all-rounders of his time (Richard Hadlee, Ian Botham, Kapil Dev and Imran).On a side note, it was shocking to find that the English cricket counties paid its professional cricketers pathetically. I had always thought that professional cricketers like Imran were paid thousands of pounds. I think my fascination with North American NFL, NBA and NHL from mid 80s onwards led me to believe that.The book then describes Imran's exploits as a humanitarian and finally as a politician. These are his roles that I am more familiar with. The author also provides a peek into quite an intimate life of Imran just before and after his marriage to Jemima Khan that comes as a pleasant surprise. I am sure that chapters about his personal life and people around him will come as news to even his avid followers.Even after its shortcoming as mentioned in the opening paragraph of my review, I must admit that this is a well written book that I read in one go. Reason is that one can avoid getting distracted and just concentrate on the Great person that Imran Khan was as a cricket player and still is as a humanitarian and politician. To those on the side of his opposition, I will just say this: There has been no person other than him who influenced international cricket in general and Pakistani cricket in particular and brought as many laurels to his country as he did. Furthermore, he could have easily settled abroad and with his wealth lived a life of luxury. Instead, he took all his wealth back to his country and decided to do humanitarian work. This is simply exemplary.

Having been named after Imran in 1986 (thanks to my infatuated aunt) I have always resented the man. Every time I seemed to introduce myself to people of a certain age they would inevitably bring up the famous cricketers name and ask me if I play cricket (which I didn't play nor follow).I never really took an interest in cricket until last year when I started playing with my colleagues in a local tournament. We lost heavily in our opening match but we decided to have regular nets sessions. I seemed to have a natural aggressive ability with the bat (as I always go after the ball using my footwork). Bowling was difficult. I was receiving sound advice from my team mates regarding line and length but it just resulted in mediocre performances (we also lost the following 4 matches). The 6th match however was the turning point. The captain didn't trust me to bowl and the opposition were cruising to victory. Midway through their innings, I insisted that I bowl. There was a new surge of pace and I had an idea of tilting the seem to obtain a deviation from my usual straight delivery. To cut a long story short, I managed to get 10 wickets in 3.5 overs for 4 runs. We won the match by 2 runs. I was compared favourably to Imran Khan by the opposition.I had caught the cricket bug. I have been googling bowling and batting techniques ever since (where I learned that I had unwittingly been using swing bowling in our first victory). I decided to learn about Pakistan's (apparent) greatest cricketer which led me to this autobiography.I would echo the comments already made by previous posters. It's a brilliant read about a truly fascinating individual. I was very pleased with the detailed description of the nuances of the cricket styles and techniques but was surprised to learn about Imran's character and his strong morals. This is the first time that I have ever felt proud of being named after Imran Khan.

Excellent book. But the Story goes on, Imran has achieved so much since 2009. He was a political non entity then. Christopher gives a great account of Imran"s early life and County Career But cuts short his International Cricket achievements and his struggle for the Cancer Hospital. Still a job well done. Imran is too big to be put in a single book.

Christopher Sandford has done an excellent and thourough job with a fascinating and sometimes contradictory subject matter - The Lion of Lahore. He takes us through Imran's early cricket career, Oxford, Worcester, Sussex and never fails to add some fruity quotes to lighten the narrative. Imran's legendary love life which may seem incongruous now with the heavyweight politician who tours the world. I particularly like Sandford's diverse sources which add so much to the tale of this Pakistan legend - who else could have invited a young artist to watch him play, march off to see how her painting of him was materialising only to find she had painted a scene by the Pavilion - as Sandford notes mischieveously - it didn't last long...He covers in depth Imran's phenomenal test career , captaincy and the in fighting, the World Cup win in 92, the Cancer Hospital, his marriage to Jemima (who is quoted) and lastly and of great interest his political career which Sandford notes hasn't quite lived up to expectation. But for me it is the insight into the character that makes this a compelling read - a touch serious, loyal, contradictory, gravitas, cachet, charismatic, father, Imran is always on the go - a driven man. Perhaps this was why his uncompromising lifestyle meant that marriage was not an easy bed fellow.The diverse sources make this a great addition to Ivo Tennant's book and there are some alternate takes to Imran's own versions in his 2 autobiograhies.Will he become President of Pakistan - who knows but don't discount anything Imran puts his mind to.Recommended.

Wow, i am very happy by receiving this book as it was told used but its not any less than a new book. Well maintained and all pages are intact, and the cover is great aswell. Thank you WOB Canada.