Sports commentary has long been dominated by men in Pakistan in fact all round the world. However, now we are witnessing a gradual change in this norm as women like Zainab Abbas, Aalia Rasheed, and Sawera Pasha are breaking the glass ceiling. Aalia Rasheed is a seasoned journalist who has worked with several prominent names in the field like BCC, ICC, and PCB. Sadly, women anchors and journalists still have to face deep-seated misogyny.
Just yesterday, during a panel discussion on Geo Super, sports analyst Aalia Rasheed, was discredited for stating her analysis. The panel included prominent names in sports commentary like Syed Yahya Hussaini and Abdul Majid Bhatti, whereas the show was being hosted by Sawera Pasha and Fatima Saleem.
The comment suggested that Aalia’s opinion doesn’t matter as she herself has never played test cricket. The journalist, however, held her own.
Mujhay aaj GeoSuper per bataya gia kay mera cricket per technical baat karna ‘Crime’ hai kyunkay main Test cricketer nahi hoon. My reaction👇 Plz guide cricket show main kis per baat honi chahyey? pic.twitter.com/U7IWJW7CpO
— Aalia Rasheed (@aaliaaaliya) August 15, 2020
She presented a very logical counter by reminding everyone that the job of a sports analyst is to study the game and then present their analysis. She rendered the comment absolutely ludicrous and suggested those who want to be humored by this to direct their objections to Geo.
“If anyone has any sort of objection regarding my presence on the panel then they should take this up with Geo who have included that on the panel. Why am I even here if I do not have command over this subject?”
She then steered the argument to drag the entire panel,
“Have Yahaya or Bhatti played test cricket as well? Why are they here? You can’t discredit your fellow colleague like this. I have been covering cricket for the past 30-32 years. Since you people have become anchors on television you have started to consider yourself God! What have you people achieved in your life, what is your worth?”
The host Fatima Saleem cut her off and requested her not to take the comments personally. However, this isn’t the first time she has had an unpleasant encounter with fellow analysts. A few days ago Sikandar Bakht had also opposed Aalia Rasheed during a post-match discussion.
Aalia shared the clip of this recent backlash on Twitter which has led to a conversation on the topic. Many were of the view that this is yet again an attempt to undermine women.
