Imran Khan's chilling reveal after assassination attempt on cricket icon

Pakistan cricket legend and former Prime Minister Imran Khan has provided a chilling account on the assassination attempt on him last week, which left the world in shock.

Khan says he “should not have survived” after being shot in the leg when his anti-government protest convoy came under attack in the east of Pakistan.

'INSANE': England stuns India in 'ridiculous' T20 World Cup drama

'IT'S DIFFICULT': Steve Smith 'mistake' exposed after Aussie World Cup flop

NO WAY: Cricket fans left seething over 'horrendous' T20 World Cup farce

The frightening incident left Khan and 10 others wounded, with one of those injured victims later dying in hospital.

The 70-year-old, who was ousted as Prime Minister in April, was six days into a protest procession, standing and waving to thousands of cheering supporters from the roof of a container in Wazirabad - nearly 200km from Islamabad.

Several others in his convoy were wounded when shots rang out, and Information Minister Marriyum Aurangzeb said a suspect had been arrested after the attack.

In footage of the shooting, being run by multiple channels, a man with a handgun can be seen being grabbed from behind by one of the people at the gathering.

Speaking on an interview with Piers Morgan Uncensored, the 70-year-old described the terrifying moment the gunfire started, and he was shot in the leg.

“First it sounded like firecrackers and then my right leg buckled, because it was hit by these bullets. Initially it felt like a burning sensation,” he told the Sky News host.

“As I was hit on my leg and falling, and as I fell, and the firing stopped, then I realised I had been saved.

“I checked myself because I was numb in the beginning and I checked my body ‘where am I hit?’... I wasn’t bleeding too much.”

The Pakistan cricket great says he is recovering in hospital after having several bullets removed from his shin, reiterating the notion that he's lucky to be alive.

“I’ve had three bullets taken out from my right leg and some shrapnel in my left leg,” he said.

“So one of the bullets has fractured my shin bone, so that will take a bit of time. But I am recovering and glad - it could have been a lot worse.”

Suspected shooter remains in police custody

TV channels showed a man they said was a suspected shooter, who looked to be in his twenties or thirties. The man said he “tried my best to kill him” and had acted alone.

"He (Khan) was misleading the people, and I couldn't bear it," the suspect said in the video. The information minister confirmed the footage was recorded by police.

Khan had been whipping up large crowds on his way to the capital Islamabad in a campaign to topple the government of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif.

"It was a clear assassination attempt. Khan was hit but he's stable. There was a lot of bleeding," Fawad Chaudhry, a spokesman for Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party, told Reuters.

"If the shooter had not been stopped by people there, the entire PTI leadership would have been wiped out."

Khan told his supporters via video-link that they should keep up the anti-government march, while dismissing police reports that it was a lone shooter who tried to kill him.

A police report released last week said a man identified as Mohammad Naveed acted alone when he took out a pistol and started shooting while Khan waved at his supporters at the event last week.

In the video address, Khan rejected the police version. He said at least two people executed what he said was a well planned attack. He did not provide evidence to back up his claim, but pointed to occasions when he spoke at his public rallies in September about a suspected plot.

The police have the suspected shooter in custody after he was intercepted by a Khan supporter who lunged at the alleged offender to throw off his aim.

with agencies

Click here to sign up to our newsletter for all the latest and breaking stories from Australia and around the world.