RAWALPINDI: When six Pakistani sports fans decided to take cricket commentary into their own hands by setting up a live streaming digital platform in 2019, they did not realize their initiative would create a community of thousands of dedicated listeners.
Change of Pace, a cricket commentary collective, covers international games, Pakistan Super League contests, and domestic tournaments, and is managed by Musad Afzal, Sarfaraz Ali, AZ Khawaja, Sarkhail Khan, Ahmad Hasan and Ahmad Afzal. Everything is up for discussion on the platform: from the intricacies of the game to the ridiculousness of the pop culture surrounding it.
A closely knit group of friends, the team of six is stretched across the United Arab Emirates, with its members residing in Sharjah, Dubai and Abu Dhabi.
This photo of Ahmad Afzal, a Change of Pace commentator, is a screengrab from a promotional video shared by the digital platform on Twitter on October 21, 2021. (Photo courtesy: Change of Pace)
Since the launch of the platform, the Change of Pace team has covered over 150 matches, crossed 43,000 active listeners, amassed over 150,000 live chat comments and reached over two million impressions on Twitter.
Sarfaraz Ali, one of the founders of the platform, told Arab News he had long thought about a fresh approach to cricket commentary, one that spoke to the community he belonged to.
“I wondered what it would be like to have an alternative commentary stream,” he said, “one that was irreverent and appealed to a younger audience. However, I had to park the idea due to technological limitations.”
This is an undated photo of Sarfaraz Ali, producer and co-creator of Change of Pace digital platform. (Photo courtesy: Change of Pace)
Ali said he continued to think about the venture, especially after meeting Musad Afzal who had “a selfish pipedream” to be a cricket commentator one day.
This photo of Musad Afzal, creator of the Change of Pace, is a screengrab from a promotional video shared by the digital platform on Twitter on October 21, 2021. (Photo courtesy: Change of Pace)
Their meeting led to the birth of the passion project.
“Since 2005, this game, and specifically this team, has been a massive part of my life, though I never felt that Pakistani voices were heard,” Afzal said. “Maybe there was also an element of wanting to see if we could be better commentators than some pros.”
For the voices behind the platform, the current offerings of cricket commentary left much to be desired.
“When the big moments arrived, we didn’t always have someone there to represent our viewpoint,” Ahmad Hasan, a Change of Pace commentator, said. “We also felt that the voices that did exist had become stale and cliched. We wanted to breathe new life into the commentary scene and show people their only option was not to reluctantly listen to television coverage.”
The cricket aficionados put together their team and started discussing the project.
This is an undated photo of Ahmad Hasan, a commentator at the Change of Pace digital platform. (Photo courtesy: Change of Pace)
“I was watching some cricket highlights when a commentator mentioned something about a bowler varying his pace,” Sarkhail Khan, the platform’s media manager, recalled. “I immediately recommended the name, Change of Pace, and it received unanimous acceptance from everyone. This is still my biggest contribution to this venture!”
The group launched the website in February 2019 and started actively engaging the cricket fandom on Twitter.
When Spaces, a new addition to the micro-blogging website, allowed users to host live talking sessions, the group also decided to use it.
From the initial idea of launching a commentary site, the team witnessed the development of a community.
This photo of Sarkhail Khan, who works as media manager with Change of Pace, is a screengrab from a promotional video shared by the digital platform on Twitter on October 21, 2021. (Photo courtesy: Change of Pace)
“Immediately after our first few broadcasts, we realized it was not about us but about all those people who came to our chat and joined our community,” Afzal said. “Nowhere else was such a nuanced and wholesome Pakistan cricket community found.”
Ali agreed, saying Change of Pace was nothing without its devoted listeners.
“It’s one thing to have an idea, execute it and put it out there and quite another to get such an incredible response from a growing number of people," he said. "We are very fortunate to have a community that feels Change of Pace is a fun, comfortable and safe space for them. We truly value that.”
Asked what made Pakistani cricket fandom special, the team said the emotional investment of people in each game was “unmatched.”
“Many of us can match the highest and lowest points in our lives with cricket contests won and lost by the Pakistan team,” said Ahmad Hasan. “There are no other fans with so much at stake every time their team steps out into the field. We own every good and bad aspect of this team and the players are like an extension of our families.”
As for the Twenty20 World Cup, the Change of Pace team say they will be attending some matches in person since it is happening across the UAE.
“A semifinal berth is the absolute minimum the team must strive for,” said AZ Khawaja. “They have the skill, quality, personnel and experience in the UAE conditions to be among the favorites for the title.”
This photo of AZ Khawaja, a Change of Pace commentator, is a screengrab from a promotional video shared by the digital platform on Twitter on October 21, 2021. (Photo courtesy: Change of Pace)
Pakistan will be playing its first World Cup match against India in Dubai today, Sunday.
