The appearance of a racial slur on the scorecard during Pakistan's four-day warm-up match in Canberra has compelled Cricket Australia (CA) to issue an apology. Pakistan are taking on the Prime Minister's XI at the Manuka Oval ahead of their three-match Test series against Australia, starting December 14 at Perth. (Cricket News)
On the first day of the warm-up game, the ticker flashed ‘P**I’ instead of PAK, and that caught many an eye. ‘P**I’ has racist connotations, as it is a derogatory term used against people of South Asian descent.
The same was pointed out by Australian journalist Danny Saeed, after which CA made the necessary changes to the scorecard.
“The graphic was an automatic feed from a data provider which had not been used previously for a Pakistan game. This was obviously regrettable, and the error we corrected manually as soon as it came to light,” CA wrote in a statement, as per Saeed.
As for the match itself, Shan Masood made the best-possible start as Pakistan captain, notching up an unbeaten double century on Day 1. His 201 not out included 14 fours and a six and helped Pakistan post 391 for the loss of nine wickets in 116.2 overs, before declaring. In reply, the Prime Minister's XI got to 149/2 at Stumps.
