The low tolerance levels in Pakistan
Heroes one day, villains the next
Kanishkaa Balachandran
25-Feb-2013
Heroes one day, villains the next. That's the plight of a Pakistan cricketer. Their showing in the ICC Champions Trophy ought to have pleased the cricket-starved nation, but the latest allegations of match-fixing have clouded their efforts. The way certain sections of the Indian media reacted to that story was just as sorry as the episode itself, writes Dileep Premachandran in the Guardian.
On Tuesday morning, just a few hours after Australia had clinched the trophy, Osman Samiuddin, Cricinfo's Pakistan editor, was repeatedly woken up by calls from various reporters asking for a "reaction to the sacking of Younis Khan and Intikhab Alam [the coach]". We had shared an apartment during the fortnight, and in my early-morning stupor, I could hear Osman asking what their sources were. Frantic calls were made to journalists in Pakistan, and others in South Africa. No one had a clue. By then, the Times of India and others that should know better had already run the "sack" story. No credible source, no confirmation. But why let that come in the way of a good yarn?
Kanishkaa Balachandran is a senior sub-editor at ESPNcricinfo