Radio Pakistan resumed its live commentary on cricket matches………..
Islamabad (23-10-2022)
Radio Pakistan was the home of cricket commentary. It had produced such legends as Omar Kureishi, Iftikhar Ahmed, Chishty Mujahid and Shahzad Humayun . As an institution, it had served the cause of cricket meritoriously since the creation of Pakistan.Radio Pakistan has resumed its much acclaimed sports feature of live ball-to-ball commentary on cricket matches, fulfilling the long-standing demand of masses.
This pro-people initiative commenced today with live commentary on Pakistan-India match of T-20 World Cup 2022.Radio Pakistan, once the pioneer of cricket , Radio Pakistan was out of the business. Why is it so and how did it happen? It’s a sad story but needs to be jotted down so this generation comes to know about the fall from the grace and its causes. commentary was not covering even international matches from the grounds.Cricket had been a passion for every Pakistani, particularly for those who were in 1950s and 1980s.Radio was still in its heydays in the ‘70s when voice of Iftikhar Ahmed was a household one. Urdu commentary was inducted into cricket field in ‘70s.
The commentary, aired on all Radio Pakistan medium wave channels as well as its digital platforms, was widely welcomed by people.
With a wide network of strong medium wave transmitters, Radio Pakistan has unparalleled outreach of accessing people not only in every length and breadth of the country but also across the borders. In addition, the Radio Pakistan vibrant social media, having about one million followers on Twitter and over 2.6 million followers on Facebook, has been disseminating information across the world.
The decision to resume live commentary on cricket matches was taken by Federal Minister for Information & Broadcasting, who has been putting in strenuous efforts to restore the past glory of the national broadcaster.Radio Pakistan covered Cricket from grounds till ‘90s but in came DABBA commentary and the country produced more expertise in this new area which in fact deprived cricket lovers from the taste of live commentary. The biggest reason for radio’s downfall was the financial problems faced by the Corporation. Because of the ban on sponsorships by tobacco companies, radio and cricket suffered. Radio Pakistan’s marketing department was not prepared to bring young blood. It failed to come out of its past and modernize itself.Then there was a battle royal going on between the commentators belonging to two big cities of Pakistan. Everybody wanted to cover each and every match whether it was played inside Pakistan or abroad.
The vision of the leadership of Radio Pakistan includes establishing the state broadcaster on modern lines of digitization. This also envisages taking the state broadcaster to the level of being known as “Broadcasting Technology Park.”
