*ISLAMABAD: For Pakistani cricket legend-turned-politician Imran Khan, hisparty’s first place in a national election, putting him on the brink ofbecoming the country’s next prime minister, is the culmination of a battlethat started more than two decades ago.*

For years, he was dismissed as a political dilettante who could not converthis personal popularity into significant seats in parliament for thePakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI), or Pakistan Movement for Justice, hefounded.

But Wednesday’s election has dramatically changed that, putting the formersports star on the brink of power. With nearly half the votes counted, PTIheld a commanding lead and Khan declared victory in a speech on Thursday.

Khan could join George Weah, one of Africa’s greatest footballers who tookover as president of Liberia earlier this year, as the only otherinternational sports personality to head his country’s government.

As prime minister, Khan, 65, would be tested on several fronts, fromdealing with an urgent foreign currency shortage to managing a tenserelationship with the United States.

“I don’t discount the role that experience in sports leadership cantranslate into other domains,” said Sameer Lalwani, co-director of theSouth Asia program at the Stimson Center think tank.

“(But) he has never had to govern… I worry that what we’ve seen about hispublic profile and the way he portrays himself, that he is much more likelyto surround himself with sycophants.”

An Oxford graduate, Khan campaigned hard on populist promises of aprosperous Pakistan that breaks away from its persistent legacy ofcorruption.

Before the advent of PTI, Pakistani politics had been dominated by twoparties – former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s Pakistan Muslim League-Nawazand the Pakistan People’s Party of assassinated former leader BenazirBhutto – when the military has not been in power.

*CRICKET STAR*

Khan began his cricket career in 1971 as a fast bowler known for his paceand aggressive tactics. By the time he retired more than 20 years later, hewas regarded as one of the world’s best ever all-rounders.

A glamorous fixture of London’s high society in his younger days, he wascaptain of Pakistan’s team of talented but wayward stars and – with areputation as a stern taskmaster – led them to win cricket’s World Cup forthe first time in 1992.

He is still known as “Kaptaan” (captain) in Pakistan.

After his retirement, Khan raised funds to open a cancer hospital in thememory of his mother in his native Lahore in 1994.

He has mostly shed the playboy image and made public shows of devotion toIslam, building a large political following in northern Pakistan.

Earlier this year, he married his spiritual adviser. Khan’s previous twomarriages, particularly when he wed his first wife, British heiress JemimaKhan, had captivated international tabloids.

Khan started the PTI in 1996, but until 2013 it briefly held only one seatin parliament.

“It’s been a 22-year struggle for justice for the people of Pakistan,” Khantold Reuters in an interview earlier this month.

His party became the country’s third-largest in the National Assembly inthe previous election, benefiting in part from a groundswell of support,especially from young, urban voters fed up with the country’s corruption.

*RELATIONS WITH WASHINGTON*

Khan has been critical of the United States’ policy in the region andvocally opposed drone strikes on Pakistani territory.

He would have to manage a tense relationship with Washington, which hasaccused Islamabad of not doing enough to root out Taliban militants.

Earlier this year, President Donald Trump tweeted that the United Stateshad “foolishly” given Pakistan more than $33 billion in aid.

Khan opposes the United States’ open-ended presence in Afghanistan. In hisvictory speech on Thursday, he said he wanted “mutually beneficial”relations with Washington, and peace in Afghanistan.

“I do think he will be publicly more adversarial.. (But) he is certainlycapable of being more pragmatic, that just hasn’t served his purposes incampaigning and branding himself,” said a former senior U.S. official, whohas met Khan several times.

*ECONOMIC CHALLENGE*

Khan will also have to urgently resolve a currency crisis that threatensPakistan’s fast-growing economy, which expanded by 5.8 percent in the pastyear but will most likely need its second bailout from the InternationalMonetary Fund (IMF) since 2013.

He has said his future government will launch an anti-corruption campaignand poverty reduction program modelled on China, Pakistan’s traditionalally that has financed billions of dollars of infrastructure projects.

At the same time, he has promised to build an “Islamic welfare state”,create 10 million jobs and build 5 million homes for the poor.

Asked how he would fund such social spending, Khan has vowed to doublePakistan’s woefully low tax collection rates – the country has one of theworld’s lowest tax-to-GDP ratios – by reforming the “corrupt” FederalBureau of Revenue.

“Instead of making policies for a small elite, we will make all policiesfor this poor class, the oppressed class,” he said on Thursday.