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 Minister’s 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 ‘P**I’ was used during Pakistan’s innings on the live score ticker during the telecast. For the unversed, the term ‘PAKI’ 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 ‘X’.
“The choice to run with “PAKI” on the Fox ticker over the traditional “PAK” is…quite a choice.”, he wrote on Twitter.
Later, Cricket Australia clarified the mistake and issued a prompt statement.
“The 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.” Cricket Australia wrote in its statement.
Pakistan displayed a scintillating performance against Australia’s Prime Minister Playing XI
Pakistan impressed with the bat on day 1 of the warm-up fixture. Shafique (38 off 76) and Imam Ul Haq (9 off 24) couldn’t 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. Australia’s 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 Minister’s 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 Masood’s first assignment as Pakistan’s Test captain.
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