A joke by comedian and TV host Tabish Hashmi about former prime minister Imran Khan has gone viral online. The joke came up while Hashmi was talking to former fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar on his show, Hasna Mana Hai. A short teaser clip from the upcoming episode was shared on the show’s official page, and it quickly caught people’s attention.
In the clip, Akhtar first talked about the tough physical routine he followed during his cricket career. He said he woke up hours before everyone else, cycled, went to the gym, and dealt with painful, swollen knees that needed fluid drained and ice packs after almost every match. He described it as a demanding life that most people never saw.
Akhtar then spoke about criticism over his career numbers, saying he never got 400 international wickets, but pointed out he did take that many in first-class cricket. He felt he should have gotten an earlier chance to play for Pakistan. As he began saying, “If Imran Khan had been my captain…”, Hashmi jumped in with a joke, saying, “Then you would have been locked up too,” poking fun at Khan’s ongoing imprisonment.
Akhtar, famously known as the Rawalpindi Express, played for Pakistan from 1997 to 2011 and still holds the record for bowling the fastest delivery in cricket history. He took 178 wickets in Test matches and 247 in ODIs during his career.
Imran Khan has been in jail since August 2023. He is currently serving a 14-year sentence from the Al-Qadir Trust case, along with a later 17-year sentence in a separate case. Khan says all the cases against him are politically motivated and denies any wrongdoing.
