Pakpassion

History

PakPassion began in June 2000 on the Rivals group of sports sites, starting as purely a cricket forum. In May 2001, it moved from the Rivals to the Sportsnetwork sports forum.

January 2005 saw PakPassion go independent with domain name found at www.pakpassion.net. Template and features had by now advanced to include things such as 'Post of the Week' and 'Quote of the Week'.

In September 2005, PakPassion officially announced their first exclusive interview, that of former fast bowler and cricket coach Aaqib Javed. April 2007 saw PakPassion staff appearing on Venus Television discussing Pakistan's participation in the 2007 Cricket World Cup.

There was numerous reporting of interviews in major press agencies in 2008 such as Cricinfo and Yahoo. In March 2009 The Guardian described PakPassion forum as "hugely popular", whilst obtaining a quote from PakPassion manager in regards of Pakistan test matches being held in England.

Since then, PakPassion has cemented an effective network of contacts not only in England, but all over the world including Pakistan, Australia, the Emirates and Canada. This has meant that PakPassion has always been at the forefront of Pakistan cricket news, often being quoted not only by major press agencies such as Cricinfo, but also appearing in mainstream online newspaper websites such as The Herald Sun of Australia, The Nation, Daily India, Yahoo Cricket, Daily Times (India) etc.

A brief history of PakPassion's achievements in exclusive content can be found on the history Page : http://www.pakpassion.net/home/history-of-pakpassion-2009-to-date.html

PakPassion has managed to provide fans worldwide leading edge news and interviews, as well as provide the Pakistan Cricket Team a platform to view and understand what is on the minds of the fans worldwide with many prominent Pakistani cricketers logging on the website. This ability to provide a two-way communication link between the players and the fans has possibly been at the apex of PakPassion's achievements to date.

PakPassion's coverage has continued to grow going with Facebook and Twitter accounts (@PakPassion) established to provide further reporting streams and fan contact.

Live reporting and editorials

PakPassion.Net has been granted media accreditation for major ICC tournaments and bi-lateral series involving Pakistan.

Gallery

The gallery feature allows members to upload their own pictures within either the cricket or an off topic category. The photos, exclusive to PakPassion often are in-game or training captures of Pakistani and other international players.

Columns, blogs and articles for external sites

Columns and blogs are written by long-established members, cricket journalists and included frequent contributions from late Pakistan cricket coach Bob Woolmer. PakPassion receives regular blog updates from former Pakistani cricketers Aamir Sohail and Mohammad Zahid. There are also blogs from Julien Fountain (former Pakistan fielding coach), Ian Pont (pace bowling coach), Azhar Mahmood and Yasir Arafat.

Some of the most popular content on PakPassion can be found under the "Talent Spotter" section, which showcases the up-and-coming talent in Pakistan. The exclusive interviews section features interviews from former and current players as well as past and current administrators.

Apart from local content, PakPassion also provides articles and interviews for external websites such as SkySports and Sport360.com with content which has covered the 2015 World Cup and the Pakistan series against England in the UAE. PakPassion has also been asked to contribute articles on other Pakistan cricket-related matters such as the return of Mohammad Amir and its impact on Pakistan cricket.

Interviews

PakPassion.Net has an exclusive interviews section which has claimed forum member participation in the interview questions process. This has led to some many widely featured interviews with renowned cricket personalities and many other interesting figures related to the world of cricket. Often the interviews have been sourced for news articles by prominent press agencies such as Cricinfo. Notable PakPassion interviews include the following

Popularity

PakPassion has been quoted and been featured on Cricinfo, The Times, The Independent, ESPN Star and several other publications. PakPassion staff and members have also represented PakPassion with appearances on Chicago Radio and on a televised cricket show in the UK on Venus TV on DM Digital in February 2009. They have also featured regularly on BBC Radio including on BBC Test Match Special and BBC Asian Network.

Mohammad Irfan

Pakpassion featured prominently in the emergence of 7' 01" fast bowler Mohammad Irfan to first class cricket in 2009. Originally languishing without a contract and contemplating giving up the game, but through the regular PakPassion interviews, on this occasion with Nadeem Iqbal, the Multan coach, PP were able to find out the existence of the Irfan, supposedly the tallest bowler to play first class cricket. Trials were arranged by National Cricket Academy coach Aquib Javed and Irfan made his first class debut in October 2009. Mohammed Irfan's remarkable story was also mentioned in a Sky News report on cricket in Pakistan whilst the security threats plagued the country