The low standards of TV Journalism are a matter of concern and must be addressed.

And the media circus continues unabated. Pretty much open season as far as taking pot-shots at the PCB is concerned! Other cricket playing countries have free societies with freedom of expression as a given. But why is it that we don’t see Nasser Hussain or Michael Atherton sitting around criticizing the ECB or Shane Warne hurling abuse at CA? Is it the fact that these organizations are so good that they can never do wrong?

The truth is that like all organizations in the world, the Pakistan Cricket Board has issues to deal with and its decision making can appear less than ideal at times. But when the right to question the PCB turns into a free-for-all and an opportunity to besmirch and sensationalize, just to gain some rating points or settle scores then one must draw the line and question the real motives behind such actions.

Sikander Bakht, at best a halfway decent support bowler in his time with the Pakistan cricket team is a regular feature on some TV broadcasts. Whilst he may well project himself as Mr Know-it-All by placing him in close proximity with the likes of Ramiz Raja, Mohammad Yousuf and Shoaib Akhtar, the fact remains that his ability to analyse and make judgement on the workings of PCB is much limited on several counts. Despite having gotten himself a job with the PCB in the early 2000s as video analyst by means that were alleged to be questionable, he lacks actual knowledge of the working of the PCB, and any real experience in any position of importance!

He is not alone, there are others too but the main point is that offering criticism to everything that the PCB does without appreciating what they are doing for the game of cricket in Pakistan requires very little intelligence. The local paanwalla for all his simplicity can probably offer better analysis of the situation then these so-called experts. If Pakistan win, they are playing a weaker opposition. If they take a decision about the Champions Trophy based upon what is known, then they are clueless!

Nothing the PCB or Pakistan cricket does is good for them. Fact is if people like Sikander Bakht, God Forbid, were ever given a chance to run cricket in Pakistan they wouldn’t know where to start!
And yet we have people like him sitting in judgement of people with years of administrative experience!

In a recent interview, Bazid Khan politely tried to explain the reason for the presence of the likes of Sikander Bakht as follows: “Our sports media is a little immature as this type of journalism in the electronic media sphere is still very young. However, we do have some analysts who are ex-players and who are letting their professional jealousy come in the way of their jobs.
“I do feel that ex-players should forget their own past or playing days when analysing and be objective in their outlook when talking about the present players.”

Bazid may have a good point about professional jealousy at play to describe what we see on TV from some of these so-called experts but what is really worrying is that this type of jealousy combined with actual malevolence is becoming common on our screens and if not stopped will destroy whatever semblance of balanced reporting that exists in our midst!

Discuss