The release of a private WhatsApp discussion between Pakistan’s captain, Babar Azam, and a top PCB official has infuriated netizens and former cricket players, who view it as an unethical and privacy-invading action.
Social media rumors gathered traction as former Pakistan captain Rashid Latif asserted that Babar Azam’s communications were being ignored by the PCB management. He said on state-run channel PTV Sports that Babar had spent the last two days attempting to get in touch with Zaka Ashraf, the chairman of the PCB Management Committee, Salman Naseer, the chief operating officer, and Usman Wahla, the director of international cricket, but had not heard back from any of them.
A purported screenshot of their WhatsApp conversation was shared on a private news station, where the scandal was also addressed. Contrary to prior reports, the chat suggested that Babar Azam had not been making calls to the chairman.
During his guest appearance on the show, former Pakistani cricketer Azhar Ali asked the reporter whether he had Babar’s permission before disclosing a confidential chat. In response, the reporter said he didn’t have to ask for permission because he was a journalist.
Netizens harshly criticized the TV station management and the reporter for their “unethical” actions in response to this decision.
Waseem Badami, the show’s anchor, later apologized on behalf of his group and the TV network. He clarified that, only minutes before the show, a hasty decision had been made to broadcast the purported WhatsApp conversation. After seeing a video clip of the PCB chairman, who gave authorization to broadcast the talk, they opted to run it instead of sticking with their original plan. Badami acknowledged that it was a personal conversation between the two of them and that it wasn’t appropriate to broadcast without permission.
In closing, he apologized, said he would take the experience to heart, and vowed never to make the same mistake twice.
It was observed that, as the PCB chairman was not one of the private parties engaged, his consent was not pertinent to the matter. Clarification on the situation could be obtained from an official PCB statement.
