In an exclusive interview with Pakpassion, Mirza Iqbal Baig discusses how his love for cricket began, how he got into journalism, his thoughts on the standard of journalism in Pakistan, and his plans for the future.

By Arsheel Khan, Nimra Ishtiaq and Usma Ghias (18th October 2012)

Esteemed sports journalist Mirza Iqbal Baig has been heavily involved with sports journalism in Pakistan for a number of years and is currently an anchor on PTV Sports, having previously hosted over 700 episodes of Bolain Kya Baat Hai on Geo Super. 

The Karachi-born presenter graduated from the city's university with an M.S.C in Economics before starting a long and distinguished career working as a sports reporter for Radio Pakistan.

In an exclusive interview with Pakpassion, Mirza Iqbal Baig discusses how his love for cricket began, how he got into journalism, his thoughts on the standard of journalism in Pakistan, and his plans for the future.

PakPassion.net: Many thanks for your time today Iqbal Saheb. First question is about your exceptional command of facts and figures - How do you remember all those numbers (statistics, dates, scores)?

Mirza Iqbal Baig: It is actually Allah (God) who has given this type of talent. After passing my Intermediate exams, I got admission in Karachi University in a B.Sc. Honours program. In B.Sc., my main subject was Economics and subsidiary subjects were Maths and Statistics - that’s why I was inclined towards statistics. I then went on to do my M.Sc. in Economics from Karachi University.

I have the passion and this is something natural. From the beginning, I would remember things that I saw. If I saw a person, he would be stored in to my mind. This was a blessing from the Almighty - I had passion for cricket, or was it the place I lived or was it the cricket ground where I used to run a cricket club from. The cricket club was known as Model Cricket Club where players such as Saeed Anwar, Rashid Latif (who was so young at that time that he didn’t get an opportunity!), Saeed Azad, Zafar Iqbal, Athar Laeeq (Pakistan B, Pakistan u-19s), and Arshad Laeeq who were brothers. 

This is something from Allah, where if someone tells me something, I will remember it – this passion. Since I am too much involved in cricket, I remember all of these things. I actually read a lot although these days I go to the Internet a lot! Besides that I have many autobiographies and many books in my library. 

Whenever I get time, I read these books. I don't need to remember those things as these facts stay in my mind automatically.

PakPassion.net: How did your love for cricket grow, did you play much cricket yourself?

Mirza Iqbal Baig: Actually, there was a ground nearby my house called Quaid-e-Azam Cricket Ground and there were many big matches being held there at that time. When I was a Year 9 student in school, I would go there and watch some of the games and that's how my interest developed. 

My father was very strict and didn't allow me to go for the whole day so I used to go early in the morning and would come back after the completion of the match. I then started regularly watching cricket and I also started scoring over there and that’s how my passion grew. Also, there were so many players who used to play first class cricket at that time and that inspired me further.

PakPassion.net: When did you get into journalism?

Mirza Iqbal Baig: I completed the M.Sc. from Karachi University, and at that time I had the passion to do cricket commentary. This was because whenever matches were held on special occasions such as 14th August (Independence day) or 6th September (Defence of Pakistan day) , I was asked to do commentary on the public address system. A lot of people told me that you have got good vocabulary and command over statistics as well as a good sense of humor so you should improve on your skills in commentary.

Somebody then told me that since I am so good in commentary, I should commentate on a cricket tournament that was held in Bakhtiari Youth Centre in Nazimabad. The idea being that the final of this tournament had an attendance of 10-15 thousand people and that would expose me to the limelight.

So after making a journey which involved changing 4 buses, I got to the ground and went up to the commentary booth. There a gentleman who was one of the organizers showed some sympathy to me and I told him that look I have travelled a distance of 16-17 kilometres and changed four buses to come here and I really like to do commentary so please give me a chance – if I don’t do well, you can remove me. The man gave me a chance to commentate said you can commentate for 2 overs. I did really well and people really appreciated it. I looked at the man and he gestured at me to continue my work! 

I was commentating in the 5th straight over when the man who had given me permission to commentate, his boss arrived and asked who I was and then took the microphone away from me and gave it to his favourite. I then went home on the same route but I took inspiration from thi,s setting myself a goal to becoming successful at this profession.

I then worked very hard with the result that after 6 years at a domestic Under 19 final, the same person who had snatched the microphone away from me entered the commentary box and he said that this is my résumé – Iqbal Bhai – please read this in a favourable light. I did not tell him that you are the person who took the microphone away from me in that rude fashion 6 years ago! My message to all people is that if you have the inspiration and you work hard then and with Allah’s help, you can achieve your goal. 

In 1987, I asked Tauseef Ahmed (the cricketer) who was a good friend of mine, to take me to Radio Pakistan. At that time he had played the 1987 Cricket World Cup. He took me to Radio Pakistan for commentary. The producer there himself was doing commentary so there was no chance for commentary at that time. He said that there was a sports program called Aalmi Sports Roundup, which was a very popular program during 1987-1988. 

I was given the task of reading the sports related news – I was given a BBC recording to copy. The first news item I had to read was of the Formula One Race. After I read it, the producer really enjoyed it and said that I have talent. From that day, I started that program reading news about various sports and eventually moved on to cricket-related news as that’s the way I started. After a year's time, I joined Pakistan’s most published paper, Daily Jang as a sports reporter.

PakPassion.net: What is your advice for people who are looking to get into Sports Journalism?

Mirza Iqbal Baig: In order to come into Sports Journalism, you have to work hard. These days, the people that are coming into journalism have a problem. This is because of the current culture in Pakistan where the aim is to go on foreign tours and get some money from the Pakistan Cricket Board or the Pakistan Hockey Federation or get free tickets to travel etc. This is not sports journalism.

If you want to get into sports journalism, you need to be “clean” and have dignity. On top of that, in the younger generation, we have seen some who have just passed their “matric” or have “intermediate” level qualification who call themselves sports journalists! 

In my view, sports journalism is only for well educated people. I have seen many well educated people like Shahid Akhtar Hashmi who has done his B.Eng and then came into sports journalism. I have seen many others who have completed their education to a high standard. Therefore my advice would be to make yourselves experts in this field – don’t take short cuts. 

A lot of people think that they can get ahead overnight due to short cuts – this is the wrong approach. For sports journalism, dedication, honesty, and hard work are very important. I would specially encourage the youngsters who have completed their Master's in Mass Communications to come into sports journalism. Those who come without a degree (matric/intermediate pass) are not competent enough. The way they move forward is through blackmailing which gives sports journalism a bad name.

PakPassion.net: Do you think the journalists coming into the industry without the qualifications and experience are pursuing their own agendas against some players?

Mirza Iqbal Baig: You’re absolutely right and I totally agree with you. Some of these guys come into journalism, build connections with some players and once those players give them some gifts, these journalists think they’ve been bought by that player and they’re over the moon when a player even gives them a phone call! 

These are the journalists who then promote their personal agendas, which is something that should not happen. A journalist must be neutral. Yes, your sympathies may lie with certain players – there are players who are your personal favourites and when they do something wrong, you do give them some sort of margin. However, ignoring it completely is not acceptable. 

Here, in Pakistan, people tend to promote their agendas and ever since the private channels emerged, these guys go on (federation-sponsored) tours – in fact, I request the Pakistan Cricket Board, Pakistan Hockey Federation, Pakistan Football Federation, Pakistan Olympics Association and the Pakistan Sports Board that sending a journalist on a tour is the job of his respective organisation – it’s not your job to send them abroad and complete their visa process and give them dollars just so that they do not write against you! Then the journalists start writing against the boards and federations as soon as they stop receiving such undue favours. The federations should offer patronage but not in this manner – by giving journalists return tickets and a thousand dollars just to keep them on side with the respective federation! 

While returning from Sharjah, I even saw journalists go for a day, cash the thousand dollars and return to Pakistan! So I think they should not waste money like that – this money is meant for the promotion of sports in the country. Due to these reasons, what happens is that the genuine people are overshadowed by the blackmailers.

PakPassion.net: The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) isn’t doing very well financially. Surely the money that is being wasted like that could be put to a better use like for organising junior tours, investing in cricket at grass roots level, "A" tours etc?

Mirza Iqbal Baig: Yes, I totally agree with you. People (in the media) use their sources to persuade the cricket board to send them to foreign tours like Australia etc and sort out their visas for a foreign trip. This is something the board should not do. I will agree with 100 percent that instead of wasting money on the journalists, who turn against the board as soon as they use up that money, the board should use this money to promote cricket, work at grass roots level and utilise those monies for the betterment of cricket in Pakistan instead of it being wasted on foreign trips for journalists. 

PakPassion.net: Do you have any other interests apart from cricket?

Mirza Iqbal Baig: Cricket is my passion. I had a show on Geo Super called Bolain Kya Baat Hai. I’ve done around 700 episodes of that live show. So cricket is my passion. I also love reading autobiographies of Pakistani and other international cricketers. All my interests revolve around sports. 

PakPassion.net: You’ve done so many interviews for various TV channels. Is there any particular interview that you will always remember as your favourite interview?

Mirza Iqbal Baig: I have interviewed too many people. I would like to add here that during live interviews, the anchor should be very attentive. I have interviewed Sarfraz Nawaz quite a few times – people told me he was arrogant but I had no problems with him. 

However, I do remember interviewing Qasim Omar live. He kept on talking about Imran Khan regardless of the question I asked him! He was actually settling some personal scores. So that was very difficult for me but because I had done my homework well, I was able to grab him. I pointed out that he had started selling blazers of Pakistani cricketers on the tour of Australia in the 1980s. I pointed out that he had sold stories because of which when the Pakistan team landed on Heathrow airport, sniffer dogs were allowed to run all over the luggage of the Pakistani cricketers as the officials suspected they were smuggling hashish. I said to him that he brought a bad name to Pakistan because of such antics. So that’s how I made him come to the point and answer my questions properly. That interview was really tough because firstly, it was going on air live, and secondly, Qasim Omar is a very outspoken man, so it was very difficult to handle him. But after a few questions, I managed to control him.

PakPassion.net: Have you ever been approached by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) to work on their behalf?

Mirza Iqbal Baig: Actually, I used to work for the PCB in the past. In 1999, I worked as the Media Coordinator for the Pakistan Cricket Board. I worked there for three years and then my contract wasn’t renewed by General Tauqir Zia. It was a blessing in disguise for me as when my contract wasn’t renewed, I switched over to the electronic media. 

I worked hard and then I started doing a show on Indus Television Network which was the first ever private TV channel of the country and from there, I took off. Although some people in the PCB who I don’t want to name, made offers to me to go back and work for them, I refused because it was very difficult for me to do that job. 

If you’re on the other side of the table, you can freely talk with people. But if you’re on this side of the table, you have to butter up people in order to persuade them to report what you like – and that’s very unlike me. So I think it was good for me that I detached myself from the cricket board after three years.

PakPassion.net: Unfortunately, our players’ reputation around the world is somewhat tarnished, especially after the spot-fixing scandal of 2010. You interact with the Pakistani cricketers a lot – what is your general impression of the Pakistani cricketers? What can they do better to give their image an improvement around the world?

Mirza Iqbal Baig: Well the main reason is that cricketers came from smaller background just on the basis of sheer talent - obviously getting selected on talent is not a crime. But they are not that educated what I mean is that they are not educated but they represent Pakistan around the world, they travel around the world and then issues arise. 

If they are groomed properly, if proper grooming is done when they came forward from smaller backgrounds which is obviously not a crime everyone deserves to come forward do the hard work and represent the country. But when they are not properly guided they end up getting involved in such things. 

Take the example of Mohammad Amir he is from a village 10Km away from Gujjar Khan, look at Mohammad Asif he is from Machi which is a village 10Km away from Sheikhupura and there are other cricketers, though Salman butt is educated I am amazed about him he did A-Levels from Beconhouse and he is educated. But this is our main reason. When our players come from smaller areas and visit the world they see different cultures and glamour and then forget their selves and get involved in bringing a bad name to the nation and hurt the image of country. If they are groomed properly, guided in the right manner then there is no reason that they don’t prove themselves as great ambassadors for the country. 

PakPassion.net: PCB is trying to educate youngsters regarding anti-doping, anti-corruption with a lot of emphasis on the education of young cricketers. Do you think that the Pakistan Cricket Board is doing enough to keep these boys on the right track at an early age? 

Mirza Iqbal Baig: Well the Pakistan Cricket Board is doing an excellent job and I really commend them. But more improvements can be done. For example the National Cricket Academy that was founded by Tauqir Zia is an ideal place to do so. There was a time when they were providing proper education there even how to have proper dining ethics, but these things are not happening now, even then whatever the Pakistan Cricket Board is doing is excellent. I think they should do more to provide the cricketers but still they are doing a lot for the players to make sure that they don’t bring a bad name to the country - they are doing an excellent job.

PakPassion.net: Away from Cricket, our hockey and other sports are really struggling in Pakistan, what are your thoughts on general standard of sports in Pakistan, how can things be changed to improve the standard of sports?

Mirza Iqbal Baig: It is a dilemma of Pakistan that there is a lot of politics in bigger organizations like cricket boards and hockey federations. Politicians are involved and because of that, competent persons are not coming forward and those whom are coming because of nepotism are not doing their work with the required level of concentration. 

In my opinion politics is the major cause of this downfall of sports in Pakistan. Those who come to the helm of affairs are incompetent in the first place. And when they do learn to do their job in one or two years, they are replaced again and the whole process starts from the beginning again. 

Just look in 1994, Pakistan was World Champion in four different sports - Cricket, Hockey, Squash and Snooker. There were some brilliant people in charge like the Retired Air Marshal Nur Khan and Arif Abbasi. These were the people who knew how to handle affairs. We need more such people in our system. When appointments are made politically then things will get even worse. Although, Zaka Ashraf was also a political appointment, he did show his worth in just one year. He saved us from controversies, did a lot of work and didn’t get his relatives appointed and also try to make money for himself! He tried his level best to bring Pakistan cricket on the right path, such people should come forward even if they are from political backgrounds, as at the very least they are competent in their jobs and only then the standard of sports will get better in Pakistan.

PakPassion.net: Obviously as you say, Zaka Ashraf is a political appointment and could be replaced when a new Government comes to power. Do you think the Pakistan Cricket Board should be totally separate from the political side of things and be a totally independent body?

Mirza Iqbal Baig: You are right I agree with you. The Chairman of PCB is appointed by President of Pakistan because he is patron in chief of PCB. Similarly, the President of Hockey Federation of Pakistan is appointed by Prime Minister of the country! My wish is that in Pakistan such large organizations should have a democratic setup like in India and some other countries where they are appointed for a specific tenure. 

If such a system is implemented in Pakistan instead of political appointment and if appointments are made on sheer merit, if people are elected on democratic lines and then their tenure is assigned like you are here for three years and then you will be replaced by another - then changes will come. But if you continue to bring people from here and there then definitely when governments will be replaced they will bring their own people. In the meantime the political appointee has learned his job. But when he is replaced with another political appointment, he starts to learn it again from start and this cycle continues in Pakistan sports. 

PakPassion.net: In terms of your recent decision to move from GEO to PTVSports, how difficult was this and what was the reason behind it?

Mirza Iqbal Baig: I worked for GEO for nearly 6 and a half years and it was very difficult you know( for me to leave) – I thought about it again and again about it. But it came down to this that although I was working for GEO but if you are accorded no respect, when you are not acknowledged and there is no value given to your work then why would you hang around such a place? 

It is at such a time that one must go their own separate way. I opted for PTV Sports because it’s an upcoming channel. It started broadcasting in January and is showing a lot of big events. I thought that this was an opportunity for me. However, I will never forget GEO which was my former organisation which provided me with a platform (for my career). In addition to GEO, I have done reporting for ESPN Star Sports – for Sports Center from Pakistan. I also worked for Ten Sports where I used to write the script for one of their programs. In 1994, I reported for BBC during the Australasia Cup in Dubai. I covered the South African series for radio in 1997. Then I worked for Radio Pakistan, FM 101, Indus Television Network and GEO. 

It was a difficult decision for me as I was recognized for my work with GEO on Bolain Kya Baat Hai. I recorded 700 episodes and it pained me a lot but what can one do? There are sometimes such circumstances that one has to take bitter decisions.

PakPassion.net: What are your plans for PTV Sports? Are you planning a program like Bolain Kiya Baat Hai there as well?

Mirza Iqbal Baig: I have got many plans for programs like Bolain Kya Baat Hai (BKBH) but we were not getting any window because PTV Sports was showing all the events at that time and there was a timing clash on air. So I am planning that after the end of Champions League, I am going to start a public oriented program from PTV Sports. This will be a 2 hour show on the same lines as BKBH. 

In addition, I have done some interesting programs on PTV Sports such as one on the 189 One Day cricketers in Pakistan – 62 of which have only played ODI games for Pakistan but did not represent Pakistan in Test matches. So I have done such research based programs and also suggested an idea of “Kasauti” (guessing game) type program which is a public orientated program. In such a format, I sit down with one person and he tries and guess the name of a cricketer or a ground etc. I have discussed such ideas with my chief coordinator, Aamir Sohail, and he is encouraging me while having played a role in getting me over to PTV Sports as well. So Inshallah, very soon after the end of Champions League, I am going to unveil some new programs on PTV Sports as they haven’t really started doing “programming” but they will do so after the end of Champions League T20 tournament.

PakPassion.net: You've seen a lot of Pakistani cricketers in your career – Is there one particular cricketer whom you will always remember with fond memories?

Mirza Iqbal Baig: In terms of character, Majid Khan really inspired me. I used to watch matches that he played. I really appreciated his personality, the way he spoke – he really impressed me a lot. In addition, I am also a great fan of Javed Miandad as he did really well. 

I am also a great fan of Aamir Sohail – he is a straight forward man. Then there is Rashid Latif as well – all these people are ones who sacrificed their careers for the betterment of the country. I really respect these people. With regards to Majid Khan, he is a decent man – he has appeared on my programs as well – is an educated man and hasn’t been involved in any controversy. We really need to respect such cricketers from Pakistan.

PakPassion.net: Many thanks for your time today Iqbal Saheb.

Mirza Iqbal Baig: My pleasure and keep up the good work on PakPassion. I regularly read your interviews.

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