The channel was heavily mocked online for portraying Khan’s mediocre poll victory as newsworthy. A Pakistani news channel was mocked on social media after it showed as breaking news the results of a Twitter poll in which the nation’s prime minister Imran Khan beat Virat Kohli.
On January 12, the International Cricket Council (ICC)’s Twitter handle asked its followers to vote for their favourite captain of a cricket team.
The poll was aimed at highlighting how the individual performances of some players improved after they became captains.
The options were Indian skipper Kohli, ex-Pakistan skipper Khan, Australia’s Meg Lanning, and South Africa’s AB de Villiers.
“Captaincy proved a blessing for some extraordinary cricketers. Their averages improved as leaders. You decide which of these ‘pacesetters’ were the best among these geniuses!” ICC wrote in a tweet.
Captaincy proved a blessing for some extraordinary cricketers 🧢🏏
Their averages improved as leaders 📈
You decide which of these ‘pacesetters’ were the best among these geniuses! pic.twitter.com/yWEp4WgMun
— ICC (@ICC) January 12, 2021
Who would you rate as the best among these giants?
— ICC (@ICC) January 12, 2021
Though a close contest, Khan won with 47.3 per cent of the votes, while Kohli finished with 46.2 per cent of the votes.
ARY News telecast the results of the poll as breaking news and also got veteran Pakistani cricketer Abdul Qadir to speak on the results of the poll.
Journalist Naila Inayat tweeted the footage and wrote: “Breaking News”.
Watch the telecast here:
BREAKING NEWS
pic.twitter.com/Aqdm4nnxCQ— Naila Inayat (@nailainayat) January 13, 2021
Here’s how people reacted to the clip:
What a joke Pakistani media is
Don’t they have some serious topic in the country to cover?
— Jaddu (@RockstarJaddu) January 13, 2021
They are celebrating a twitter poll victory 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂
— Abhijeet (@abhijeet2510) January 13, 2021
kya cartoon hai be ye log sahi me bro 🤣🤣
— Bizzle ❥ (@itsprecioussid) January 13, 2021
Aaja trophy bhi lele… pic.twitter.com/589NhXxK9D
— Akash K. Verma (@AkashVerma119) January 13, 2021
Nacho 😂😂😂 pic.twitter.com/UpRhAejIZO
— Shantanu Gupta 🇮🇳 (@shantanu2511) January 13, 2021
— I’M FARMER 🚜⛏️ (@ROCKY_PUNJABI79) January 13, 2021
With this massive Historic win,Imran Khan should be made Permanent Prime Minister of Pakistan.😜
— Sanjay Daswani (@sanjay_daswani) January 13, 2021
Waiting for @ImranKhanPTI to release a official thanking letter on this to all the voters.
— Rishav (@Rishav_Mech) January 13, 2021
Sharam karo yaar pic.twitter.com/4wZqhXkDpk
— Siddharth Jain 💕 (@dhadhkan13) January 13, 2021
- The Indian Express website has been rated GREEN for its credibility and trustworthiness by Newsguard, a global service that rates news sources for their journalistic standards.
