A new register of cricket in political discourse has developed during the last six weeks marked by political turmoil. As political tension continues between the sitting prime minister, Shahbaz Sharif, who is well known at home and abroad for his term as Chief Minister of Punjab; and the former Prime Minister, Imran Khan, who received fame as Captain of the Pakistan cricket team that won the World Cup in Australia; the register is getting more firmly entrenched in political discourse.
Cricket is an all-time favourite sport for Pakistanis and they are familiar with the terminology of cricket irrespective of gender and class. Cricketers from the streets of Karachi to the valleys of Swat and Gilgit-Baltistan, the young not only enjoy playing cricket from early childhood, they also vye to be selected for the national team. Not surprising as many cricket champions, belong to modest families and bring laurels at home and abroad.
In recent events the public witnessed with despair the political conflict starting with the ‘no confidence motion,’ by a coalition of tripartite of three major parties in the opposition led by Shahbaz Sharif, and stiff resistance by the party in power led by Imran Khan. Amidst this painful ordeal on both sides as the power struggle continues; the audience comprising citizens from all walks of life are amused by the reference to ‘cricket’ by both leaders.
Imran Khan’s use of cricket terms in his political speeches is well known. More interesting however, was the rapid spread of this register by other political leaders both by the parliamentarians and opposition.
Political discourse analysis of written and spoken speech ranging from the highest political flanks including Prime Ministers and Parliamentarians to political analysts and editors of news, to the general public; reveals that the register of cricket is widely being used.
Imran Khan’s use of cricket terms in his political speeches is well known. More interesting however, was the rapid spread of this register by other political leaders both by the parliamentarians and opposition. Soon the reference to cricket was adopted by media and the newspapers and hosts and participants of televised discussions reported political events in their spoken and written discourse. The hype of using cricket terms finally entered in the public domain and was soon used widely by the leaders and the public both in the formal and informal political discourse.
The political discourse to identify cricket terminology used before the vote of no-confidence was passed in spoken and written discourse; include phrases that include ‘Neutral umpire,’ loyalty to ‘Captain or Skipper’, ‘he scored a sixer’, will play to the ‘last ball’, by Parliamentarians’; and phrases used by opposition include phrases such as ‘he has been ‘stumped’, go ‘back to the pavilion’, and to show ‘sportsman spirit’.
An interesting use of this register was a comment by a seasoned and highly respected barrister on social media: I would not like to get into a debate on the recent political events; but I must say that ‘Imran Khan hit a sixer and no one knows where the ball is.’ The development of the new register is likely to increase in political discourse, as the political environment gets more heated in the months to come.
