BBC apologises over Imran-Wasim mix-up

LONDON: The British Broadcasting Corporation's flagship show Newsnight has apologised for showing footage of Pakistan bowler Wasim Akram instead of his former teammate-turned-politician Imran Khan.

The flagship BBC2 news programme opened with a piece documenting Imran Khan's journey from a cricketing hero to a potential prime minister. But instead of showing the right-handed all-rounder in action, footage of left-arm pace bowler Wasim Akram demolishing a batsman's stumps was shown.

Eagle-eyed viewers picked up on the error and the programme apologised on Twitter. Doctor Foster actor Prasanna Puwanarajah said: "Wow. Did Newsnight just use a clip of Wasim Akram to illustrate a story about Imran Khan? (Yes. They did.)"

At the end of the programme, presenter Evan Davis said: "We made a mistake in our opening tonight. The footage we showed was of the cricketer Wasim Akram not Imran Khan. "Don't know how that happened, sincere apologies for that."