Newsnight apologises for Imran Khan mix-up

Wasim Akram and Imran KhanGetty Images

Akram and Khan were two of Pakistan's most successful cricketers

Newsnight has apologised for showing footage of Pakistan bowler Wasim Akram instead of his former teammate-turned-politician Imran Khan.

The BBC Two news programme opened on Wednesday night with a piece about Khan's journey from cricket star to potential Pakistani prime minister.

But footage showed left-arm bowler Akram instead of the right-handed all-rounder Khan.

Presenter Evan Davis apologised at the end of the programme.

"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," he told viewers.

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On Thursday, a BBC spokesperson said: "We'd like to reiterate the sincere apology we made on air last night for an error that occurred during the programme.

"We are looking into how this mistake happened and will be tightening our processes on Newsnight to prevent an incident like this happening again."

Imran KhanEPA

Khan could be on course to be the next leader of Pakistan

Many viewers were quick to point out the error on social media.

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Early results from Pakistan's election suggested on Thursday that Khan is on course to become prime minister.

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