--- title: Imran Khan Is on the 2019 TIME 100 List description: Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan, a former cricket star leading a country at a crossroads, is one of the most influential people of 2019. canonical: https://time.com/collections/100-most-influential-people-2019/5567764/imran-khan/ article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2019-04-16T20:19:45.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-03-02T23:30:03.728Z og:title: Imran Khan Is on the 2019 TIME 100 List og:description: Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan, a former cricket star leading a country at a crossroads, is one of the most influential people of 2019. og:url: https://time.com/collections/100-most-influential-people-2019/5567764/imran-khan/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt991b72d459bfa3f3/6989482bb21a9c44b55006cc/imran-khan-time-100-2019-042-1.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Imran Khan Is on the 2019 TIME 100 List og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Imran Khan Is on the 2019 TIME 100 List twitter:description: Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan, a former cricket star leading a country at a crossroads, is one of the most influential people of 2019. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt991b72d459bfa3f3/6989482bb21a9c44b55006cc/imran-khan-time-100-2019-042-1.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 --- Apr 16, 2019 # Imran Khan by Ahmed Rashid  Imran Khan, chairman of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) looks on during a campaign meeting ahead of general elections in Islamabad, Pakistan, July 21, 2018\. REUTERS/Athit Perawongmetha - RC1E885645F0 Imran Khan, chairman of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) looks on during a campaign meeting ahead of general elections in Islamabad, Pakistan, July 21, 2018\. REUTERS/Athit Perawongmetha - RC1E885645F0Athit Perawongmetha—Reuters Pakistan is at a critical crossroads, and the man in charge is the closest it has to a rock star. Imran Khan captained the team that won the 1992 Cricket World Cup, built a world-class cancer hospital in Lahore, then a top-notch university for kids who could never have dreamed of attending one. Twenty years ago, he entered politics—a dirty business in Pakistan at the best of times. Now he is Prime Minister of an impoverished nation that cannot pay its bills and is dependent on handouts from rich neighbors like China and the Arab Gulf states. Critics say Khan is too close to the army and Islamic fundamentalists, and chooses advisers poorly. Driven by fierce ambition, he can be cold and calculating. But he still generates the broadest hope among young and old that he can turn Pakistan around, and help make South Asia an ocean of peace rather than a state of permanent conflict. _Rashid is a journalist in Pakistan and author of_ Taliban ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"Article","@id":"https://time.com/collections/100-most-influential-people-2019/5567764/imran-khan/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/collections/100-most-influential-people-2019/5567764/imran-khan/"},"headline":"Imran Khan","datePublished":"2019-04-16T20:19:45.000Z","dateModified":"2026-03-02T23:30:03.728Z","description":"Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan, a former cricket star leading a country at a crossroads, is one of the most influential people of 2019.","url":"https://time.com/collections/100-most-influential-people-2019/5567764/imran-khan/","keywords":["T100 2019","2019 TIME 100"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt991b72d459bfa3f3/6989482bb21a9c44b55006cc/imran-khan-time-100-2019-042-1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"TIME Staff","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/time-staff/"}],"creator":"TIME Staff","articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt991b72d459bfa3f3/6989482bb21a9c44b55006cc/imran-khan-time-100-2019-042-1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/collections/100-most-influential-people-2019/5567764/imran-khan/","name":"Imran Khan"}}]}] ```