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| Imran Khan absent from PCB's video on cricket history: 'Do you want to divide the game too?' |
On the occasion of Pakistan's 76th Independence Day, a video has been shared by the Pakistan Cricket Board on the social media website 'X' in which the historical and important events related to cricket from the year 1952 to the present time have been shared. And shown in the form of pictures.
On the occasion of August 14, when this video was shared on social media by the Pakistan Cricket Board, there was a strong reaction due to the absence of Imran Khan, the captain who won the only Cricket World Cup for Pakistan in 1992.
The video shared by PCB begins with a quote from the founder of Pakistan Muhammad Ali Jinnah. Moving on, this video shows some memorable moments of the Pakistani cricket team in 1952 and 1958.
In this PCB video, from Javed Miandad's historic six in Sharjah in 1986 to winning the World Cup in 1992 and then the Asia Cup in 2000 and 2012, winning the T20 World Cup in 2009, and Pakistan's current captain Babar. There are mentions and scenes of Azam's achievements, but there is no mention of Imran Khan, the captain of the team that won the first-ever World Cup for Pakistan in 1992.
The 2020 World Cup video uses nine images showing members of the Pakistani team celebrating and holding the trophy. Almost all the players who were part of the Pakistan team in 1992 are present in these pictures except Imran Khan whose picture is nowhere to be seen.
However, the thumbnail of the video (intro image of the video) also has a picture of Imran Khan with six other players holding the 1992 World Cup.
The absence of Imran Khan in this video of the Pakistan Cricket Board left some Pakistani cricket fans 'disappointed', which they also expressed on social media.
The BBC contacted Chairman PCB Management Committee Zaka Ashraf and PCB Media Department to get the Pakistan Cricket Board's position on the matter but received no response.
Shahryar Ijaz, a user on social media, wrote that 'Cricket should be above politics, PCB's neglect of Imran Khan is a reprehensible move.'
A user named Dr. Seema Khan wrote that the history of cricket in Pakistan is incomplete without Imran Khan and PCB has described this incomplete history.
Speaking on the same issue, another user named Jawad Ahmed wrote that 'PCB should regret this, Imran Khan dreamed of becoming a World Cup champion and it was his long-standing vision. Every player in the squad of the 1992 cricket team testified and admitted that Imran Khan helped them to believe in their abilities.
A social media user named Maryam Khan also criticized the PCB and wrote that 'You want to tell and you think that Imran Khan has no place in this game. You want to bring polarization to this game (like politics). The people will make the decision, not you.
A social media user from India wrote that 'I don't like Imran Khan but he was your greatest cricketer. Strangely, you didn't include them (in the video)."
A user named Ali Imtiaz wrote that "One PCB tweet cannot erase the history of cricket from the hearts of Pakistanis. Pakistanis remember the history of cricket orally."