Mirza Iqbal Baig (

Urdu Urdu (; , , ) is an Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in South Asia. It is the Languages of Pakistan, national language and ''lingua franca'' of Pakistan. In India, it is an Eighth Schedule to the Constitution of Indi ...

:) is a Pakistani sports journalist, analyst, and cricket commentator who currently works as a television show host. Baig comes from

Karachi Karachi is the capital city of the Administrative units of Pakistan, province of Sindh, Pakistan. It is the List of cities in Pakistan by population, largest city in Pakistan and 12th List of largest cities, largest in the world, with a popul ...

and is a notable resident of the

Model Colony Model Colony Karachi is a neighborhood in Karachi, Pakistan,Malir Town - Government of P ...

. He has served in various capacities as a cricket analyst, including being appointed by the

Pakistan Cricket Board The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), formerly known as Board of Control for Cricket in Pakistan (BCCP), is a sports governing body for cricket in Pakistan responsible for controlling and organising all tours and matches undertaken by the Pakistan ...

as a media coordinator in 1999 from the

National Stadium, Karachi The National Stadium, also known as National Bank Stadium for sponsorship reasons, is an international cricket ground in Karachi, Sindh, Pakistan,Previously British India owned by the Pakistan Cricket Board. It is the home ground of the Karach ...

. Currently, he hosts a sports show on Express News and writes for the ''

Daily Times ''Daily Times'' may refer to the following national newspapers: * ''Daily Times'' (Nigeria), newspaper published in Nigeria * ''Daily Times'' (Pakistan), newspaper published in Pakistan ''The Daily Times'' may refer to the following newspapers: * ...

.''

Education

Baig studied at the

University of Karachi The University of Karachi (; informally Karachi University, KU, or UoK) is a public research university located in Karachi, Sindh, Pakistan. Established in June 1951 by an act of Parliament and as a successor to the University of Sindh (which is ...

hold a BSc. Honours degree in

Economics Economics () is a behavioral science that studies the Production (economics), production, distribution (economics), distribution, and Consumption (economics), consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and interac ...

with his subsidiary subjects being mathematics and statistics. He then went on to do M.Sc. in Economics from the same university. For a short period, he remained a teacher of mathematics and physics, before eventually venturing into the commentating sphere, something he had always been interested in.

Career

He started his career in 1987 by working as a sports reporter for

Radio Pakistan The Pakistan Broadcasting Corporation (); also known as ''Radio Pakistan'', serves as the national public broadcaster for radio in Pakistan. Although some local stations predate its founding, it is the oldest existing broadcasting network in P ...

, after being introduced there by his friend

Tauseef Ahmed Tauseef Ahmed (born 10 May 1958) is a former Pakistani cricketer who played in 34 Test matches and 70 One Day Internationals between 1980 and 1993. Career Tauseef Ahmed made his first-class debut in early 1979 for Public Works Department aga ...

(a former Pakistani test cricketer). Initially, he was assigned a sports program called ''Aalmi Sports Roundup'' where gave a recap of world sports. He then moved on to cricket-related news. In 1988, he joined

Daily Jang The ''Daily Jang'' () is an Urdu language newspaper headquartered in Karachi, Pakistan. It is considered one of Pakistan's newspaper of record and a leading newspaper of Pakistan. History It is the oldest newspaper of Pakistan in continuous p ...

as a sports editor. He then worked for ''Takbeer'' (magazine), '' Ummat'' as well as the ''

'' and later joined

Indus TV The Indus ( ) is a transboundary river of Asia and a trans- Himalayan river of South and Central Asia. The river rises in mountain springs northeast of Mount Kailash in the Western Tibet region of China, flows northwest through the dispu ...

as a freelance sports anchor. In 1999, he was appointed by the

as a media coordinator from

in 1999, a position he stayed at for three years. In the mid-2000s, Baig joined Geo Super as host of a sports talk show ''Bolain Kya Baat Hai'' on Geo Super, where he went on to do more than 700 episodes. Baig was in conflict with the management of Geo Super so he left Geo Super after six and a half years and shook joined

PTV Sports PTV Sports HD is a 24-hour state-owned sports channel operated by the Pakistan Television Corporation (PTV). PTV Sports was founded as a sports division of the PTV in the 1970s. It was licensed as a stand-alone sports channel in January 2012. ...

in August 2012. In 2014, he joined Express News as host of ''Sports Hour.'' In 2015, the show was renamed to ''Sports Page with Mirza Iqbal Baig,'' and, as of 2022, is still in production. Since February 2016, Baig has been writing for the ''

.''

Awards

In 2021, Baig was nominated for the Best Sports Show Host award at the 2nd Pakistan Sports Awards.

References

Pakistani cricket commentators Living people Geo News newsreaders and journalists Pakistani sports broadcasters Pakistani sports journalists University of Karachi alumni Journalists from Karachi Year of birth missing (living people) {{Pakistan-journalist-stub