Beat that: BBC displayed pic of Wasim Akram as Imran Khan in Newsnight

July 27, 2018:

Twitter said: “Let me guess your researcher just googled Pakistani Cricketer".

BBC has issued an apology for confusing Pakistani Cricketer-turned-politician Imran Khan with his Former Teammate Wasim Akram in its election-related coverage.

During its flagship night-time news show, ‘Newsnight’, BBC2 showed footage of Former left-arm pacer Akram instead of right-handed all-rounder Khan as he emerged as frontrunner in the Pakistani General Elections.

At the end of the programme, presenter Evan Davis said: “We made a mistake in our opening tonight. The footage we showed was of the cricketer Wasim Akram not Imran Khan.”

“Don’t know how that happened, sincere apologies for that.”

Both Akram and Khan are well-known faces of Pakistan Cricket.

Imran Khan, who retired from the sport in 1992, had led the country to victory at the 1992 Cricket World Cup, Pakistan’s first and only victory in the competition.

He has since moved on to lead Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party, which emerged as single-largest party in elections held yesterday.

Akram, meanwhile, has remained linked to cricket since his retirement and spends much of his time commentating on the game.

“We’d like to reiterate the sincere apology we made on air last night for an error that occurred during the programme,” a BBC spokesperson said.

PTI