Islamabad, Jul 26 (IANS): With cricketer-turned-politician Imran Khan set to become the next Pakistan Prime Minister, his former wife Jemima Goldsmith on Thursday hailed his poll victory as "an incredible lesson in tenacity".

In a tweet, she recalled how Khan, who had retired from cricket after winning the 1992 world cup, took a plunge into politics in 1996 and launched the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf chief.

"(Twenty-two) years later, after humiliations, hurdles and sacrifices, my sons' father is Pakistan's next PM. It's an incredible lesson in tenacity, belief and refusal to accept defeat. The challenge now is to remember why he entered politics in the 1st place. Congratulations," Goldsmith tweeted.

She said she remembered Khan's first election in 1997 -- "untested, idealistic and politically naive".

"I waited up for the call in Lahore with three month old Sulaiman, who I had lugged around the country.

"Eventually he called. 'It's a clean sweep' and after my gasp, '… the other way'. He roared with (a) laughter."

Khan and Jemima, a British TV, film and documentary producer, journalist and campaigner, married in 1995 in Paris. In 2004, the couple announced they had divorced amicably, ending the nine-year marriage because it was "difficult for Jemima to adapt to the political life of Imran Khan in Pakistan".

She returned to Britain with their two sons -- Sulaiman Isa Khan and Qasim Khan.