Following widespread backlash and criticism, including from the legendary Wasim Akram, the PCB shared an updated, ‘unabridged’ tribute video, this time featuring and even highlighting their World Cup-winning captain Imran Khan.
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On August 14, Pakistan’s Independence Day, the Pakistan Cricket Board shared a video on social media, paying tribute to the nation’s cricketing journey. The video including clips from the early days, and their three global titles in 1992, 2009, and 2017.
However, they had left out Imran Khan, one of the greatest all-rounders of the game and Pakistan’s only World Cup-winning captain. Imran served as the Prime Minister of Pakistan between 2018 and 2022, and has been recently sentenced to three years in prison in charges of corruption, though he claims that the charges are politically motivated.
PCB received significant flak from the cricket community, particularly from home fans and former cricketers. Wasim expressed his shock at his former captain’s absence.
“I got the shock of my life when I watched PCB’s short clip on the history of Pakistan cricket minus the great Imran Khan…Political differences apart but Imran Khan is an icon of world cricket and developed Pakistan into a strong unit in his time and gave us a pathway… PCB should delete the video and apologise,” he tweeted on August 16.
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Following the criticism, PCB deleted the previous video and uploaded an updated version just after midnight on August 17. The new version is around 14 seconds longer, and highlights the role of Imran in Pakistan’s cricket journey, including the 1992 World Cup.
However, the justification that PCB have given for posting the new, ‘unabridged’ version has left a lot to be desired: “The PCB has launched a promotional campaign leading up to the CWC 2023. One of the videos was uploaded on 14th August 2023. Due to its length, the video was abridged and some important clips were missing. This has been rectified in the complete version of the video.”
The original video posted on August 14 was 2 minutes 21 seconds long, while the new version clocks in at 2 minutes 35 seconds. According to the rules of X (Twitter), unverified accounts can only post videos up to 2 minutes 20 seconds long, while verified accounts have a significantly more lenient constraint of two hours.
Despite having a verified account, the PCB claimed that the original tribute video posted on Independence Day had been abridged because of its length. The reason has not gone down well with the fans, who theorise that excluding Imran in the original video had been a politically motivated move.
The PCB has launched a promotional campaign leading up to the CWC 2023. One of the videos was uploaded on 14th August 2023. Due to its length, the video was abridged and some important clips were missing. This has been rectified in the complete version of the video ⤵️ pic.twitter.com/Rz2OBDyI9i
— Pakistan Cricket (@TheRealPCB) August 16, 2023
