His entry into the political field with the setting up of Pakistan Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf caused ripples among established political parties.
KARACHI: Cameras flashed. Crowds cheered. Back home the fans went crazy as Imran Khan lifted the 1992 Cricket World Cup.
He was the cynosure of all eyes in Pakistan. After a poor start in the tournament and having redeemed the honour of the Pakistan cricket team, Khan called it a day.
Few now remember that his cricket debut was not exactly a glorious one. His bowling style was dismissed as wayward by his seniors and cricket commentators alike. But 21 years later, the same man had scaled the heights of cricketing success.
In contrast, Imran, arrested yesterday after he emerged from hiding for the first time after imposition of emergency, began his political career in 1996 with high hopes and every chance of success.
His entry into the political field with the setting up of Pakistan Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (Movement for Justice) caused ripples among established political parties such as Benazir Bhutto's Pakistan People's Party and Nawaz Sharif's Pakistan Muslim League.
After retiring from Test cricket, Khan, who will turn 55 later this month, had devoted most of his time to the Shaukat Khanum Memorial Cancer Hospital & Research Centre, a state-of-the-art charitable cancer hospital he established in Lahore using donations.
A national hero and prominent social worker with a relatively unblemished record, Imran Khan seemed destined to succeed in politics as he had in cricket.
But as it turned out, politics was a different ball-game altogether. His political knowledge was so limited that in the first elections, he even forgot to register his own vote.
The same personality traits that had brought him success in leading the Pakistan cricket team proved to be a liability on the sticky wicket of Pakistani politics.
Campaigning on a platform of social justice, he refused to entertain any alliance with those he considered to be "corrupt and insincere leaders"... which included most of the politicians in Pakistan.
As a result, the Tehreek-I-Insaaf came close to being bowled out entirely and the only seat it ever won was that of Imran Khan's home constituency of Mianwali.
Renowned for his "reverse swing", Imran had come to learn the art in politics as well, when he joined the All Party Democratic Movement, an alliance of opposition parties against President Pervez Musharraf, with the same politicians he derided earlier.
Entering politics exposed Imran to some serious mudslinging and his play boy image of the cricketing past came to haunt him time and again.
In 1995, he married Jemima Goldsmith, the daughter of the late British billionaire Sir James Goldsmith. They announced their divorce on 22 June 2004 and have two sons named Qasim and Suleiman.
Khan is also alleged to have a daughter out of wedlock with Sita White, daughter of Gordon White, Baron White of Hull, a few years before he married Jemima.
Imran's uncompromising attitude on the field came to fore even in politics as he never hesitated to attack political big wigs such as Benazir Bhutto, MQM leder Altaf Hussain...and General Musharraf himself.
So it was not a surprise when police came for him when emergency was declared on November 3. Khan accused Musharraf of treason "punishable by death".
Nevertheless, Khan did not give up hope of emerging to lead a mass movement by appealing to the youth of Pakistan.
Going underground, he resurfaced at the Punjab university to spearhead a students movement on Wednesday but was instead locked up by the student wing of his ally, the Jamaat-i-Islami and handed over to the police.
But, if anything, the general reaction to his arrival at the University with the young students welcoming him and raising slogans in his favour show that Khan still remains the heart throb for the younger generation.
With his arrest, Khan has now completed the all-rounders triple of politics-- he has founded his own party, has been elected to the assembly and now has been sent to jail for the first time.
With Musharraf regime slapping the draconian Anti-Terrorism Act, whose penalties include life term and even death sentence, on Khan, it remains to be seen whether the current turmoil in Pakistan will catapult him to the top.
Born on November 25, 1952, in Mianwali, Khan played Test cricket for Pakistan between 1971 and 1992.
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