Comedian and TV host Tabish Hashmi cracked a joke referencing former cricketer and ex-prime minister Imran Khan’s imprisonment during a conversation with former Pakistan pacer Shoaib Akhtar on his show Hasna Mana Hai.
The show’s official page posted a teaser of the upcoming episode ahead of its release.
In the clip, Akhtar spoke about the physical toll his career took on him. “I had to wake up three hours before everyone else. I had to cycle first, then go to the gym. My knees would get jammed and lock up. I would have fluid drained from them, apply medication, and ice them. Then I would go somewhere and bowl in a match, and after that, it would take me another five hours to recover. That was my life,” he said.
Akhtar then turned to the criticism he has faced over his career statistics, saying, “People say I didn’t take 400 wickets, but I did take them in first-class cricket. They should have given me the chance to play earlier. If Imran Khan had been my captain…”
Before Akhtar could finish the thought, Hashmi interrupted with a quip aimed at Khan’s imprisonment, saying, “Then you would have been locked up too.”
Shoaib Akhtar, nicknamed the Rawalpindi Express, played international cricket for Pakistan between 1997 and 2011. He holds the record for the fastest delivery in cricket history, a 161.3 km/h ball bowled against England at the 2003 World Cup.
Over his career, he took 178 wickets in 46 Tests and 247 wickets in 163 ODIs, along with 19 wickets in 15 T20Is. He retired from international cricket after the 2011 World Cup and has since worked as a commentator and media personality.
Imran Khan has been in custody since August 2023. He is currently serving a 14-year sentence handed down in January 2025 in the Al-Qadir Trust corruption case, in which his wife Bushra Bibi was also sentenced to seven years.
In December 2025, both were handed an additional 17-year sentence in a separate case involving state gifts.
Khan, who denies all the charges against him as politically motivated, remains incarcerated at Adiala Jail in Rawalpindi and faces more than 150 other cases across the country.
