Imran Ahmed Khan Niazi (ইমরান খান) is a Pakistani former cricketer, philanthropist, and politician who served as the 19th prime minister of Pakistan from August 2018 until April 2022. As a cricketer, he captained the Pakistan national cricket team to victory in the 1992 Cricket World Cup. After retiring from cricket, he founded the Shaukat Khanum Memorial Cancer Hospital and Research Centre, Pakistan's first cancer hospital. He is the founder of the political party Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and was its chairman from 1996 to 2023.

Born in Lahore, he graduated from Keble College, Oxford. He began his international cricket career in a 1971 Test series against England. He advocated for neutral umpiring during his captaincy. He led Pakistan to its first-ever Test series victories in India and England during 1987. Playing until 1992, he captained the Pakistan national cricket team for most of the 1980s and early 1990s. In addition to achieving the all-rounder's triple of scoring 3,000 runs and taking 300 wickets in Tests, he holds the world record for the most wickets as a captain in Test cricket, along with the second-best bowling figures in an innings. Moreover, he has won the most Player of the Series awards in Test cricket for Pakistan and ranks fourth overall in Test history. In 2009, he was inducted into the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame.

Khan was born in Lahore on 5 October 1952. He is the only son of Ikramullah Khan Niazi, a civil engineer, and his wife, Shaukat Khanum, and has four sisters. Paternally, he is of Pathan origin from the Niazi tribe. His maternal family is from the Burki community, having lived near Jalandhar for centuries before migrating to Pakistan after Independence in 1947.

He attended Aitchison College and Cathedral School in Lahore. He arrived at Royal Grammar School Worcester in England in September 1971 and performed well in cricket there. In 1972, after being turned down by Cambridge University, he was admitted to Keble College, Oxford, where he studied philosophy, politics and economics, graduating in 1975. Paul Hayes, a cricket enthusiast, helped facilitate his entry.

Khan had several relationships in his bachelorhood. He was known as a "playboy" who was active in London's nightlife, often visiting Tramp in St James's. One or two of his girlfriends were called "mysterious blondes" in British tabloids. During the 1980s and 1990s, he was regarded as one of the most eligible bachelors.

His first girlfriend, Emma Sergeant, an artist and daughter of British investor Sir Patrick Sergeant, introduced him to socialites. The Times states Emma was the "one woman he truly loved before his first marriage." They met in 1982 and visited Pakistan. She accompanied him everywhere, including a hunting trip to Peshawar and a cricket tour to Australia. She painted his portrait during their relationship at his request. His Chelsea residence, near Sergeant's studio and Tramp, became central to his social life. After long separations, their relationship ended in 1986.

Khan made his first-class debut at 16 in Lahore. By the early 1970s, he played for local teams: Lahore A, Lahore B, Lahore Greens, and Lahore. He was part of the University of Oxford Blues Cricket team from 1973 to 1975. Between 1971 and 1976, Khan played English county cricket for Worcestershire and also represented Dawood Industries and Pakistan International Airlines. From 1983 to 1988, he played for Sussex.

Khan made his Test cricket debut against England in June 1971 at Edgbaston. In August 1974, he played his first One Day International (ODI) match, again against England, at Trent Bridge for the Prudential Trophy. He received the Wetherell Award for leading all-rounder in English first-class cricket in 1976 and 1980. By 1977, he was playing in Kerry Packer's World Series Cricket.