The Pakistan Cricket Team is touring Australia to play a three-match Test series against Australia, which is also part of the 2023-25 World Test Championship.
Ahead of the start of the series, Shan Masood’s side is playing a warm-up fixture against the Australian Prime Ministerās XI at Manuka Oval in Canberra. Amidst that, a controversy has erupted on social media regarding a racial slur used on the live-score ticker.
An Australian journalist observed that a racist slur āP**Iā was used during Pakistanās innings on the live score ticker during the telecast. For the unversed, the term āPAKIā is a derogatory term used only for people of Pakistan origin and also for the Indian sub-continent.
Journalist, Daany Saeed noticed that and immediately raised his concern on social media platform āXā.
āThe choice to run with āPAKIā on the Fox ticker over the traditional āPAKā isā¦quite a choice.ā, he wrote on Twitter.
Later, Cricket Australia clarified the mistake and issued a prompt statement.
āThe graphic was an automatic feed from a data provider that had not been used previously for a Pakistan game. This was regrettable, and the error we corrected manually as soon as it came to light.ā Cricket Australia wrote in its statement.
Pakistan displayed a scintillating performance against Australia’s Prime Minister Playing XI
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Pakistan impressed with the bat on day 1 of the warm-up fixture. Shafique (38 off 76) and Imam Ul Haq (9 off 24) couldnāt provide a good start. However, skipper Shan Masood played an outstanding knock of 201 off 298 balls, innings 14 fours and 1 six. He stayed unbeaten throughout the knock despite wickets falling at the other end.
Babar Azam also played a handy knock of 40 off 88 balls, while Sarfaraz Ahmed chipped in with 41 off 47. They declared at 391 for 9 in 116.2 overs. Australiaās Jordan Buckingham bowled admirably as he picked up a five-for, returning with figures of 5 for 80 in 23 overs.
Australian openers have provided a decent start in the second innings. Cameron Bancroft (53 off 128) scored a half-century, while Marcus Harris amassed 49 off 102. The Prime Ministerās XI is 149 for 2, trailing by 242 runs.
The first Test match between Pakistan and Australia is scheduled to be played from 14th to 18th December 2023 at Perth Stadium. It will be Shan Masoodās first assignment as Pakistanās Test captain.
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