Question.

[Jono]

Virender Sehwag debuted as Virender Shewag...

Hah, I remember that. Had this irresistible urge to fling the remote at the television set everytime Ravi Shastri referred to him as Shewag in the commentary. Every Tom, Dick and Harry with passing knowledge of the domestic scene knew his name was Sehwag, and it was probably a typo in the official communication. But Shastri had to keep offering proof of why he's an overpaid ass.

Was in EA Cricket 2004 with that name I believe. Or perhaps it was 2002.

 

[Jakester1288]

Not too sure of the answer. Reminds me of the humorous names used in video games to avoid licensing issues; eg Ricky Pointing, Shane Wayne, Chris Carlins.

Yeah that sucked. Pretty lame that Ponting's game can't even have the Australian names. Brett Leap etc in the Australian captain's game was dire.

At least Cricket 07 had the Australian, South Africa and England (IIRC) names rights.

 

[Mr Mxyzptlk]

Virender Sehwag debuted as Virender Shewag...

I was arguing with someone about that recently, but she thought I was crazy. Can't wait to show my mom this post. This'll show her!

 

[Craig]

So how come Mohammad Mahmullah only appears on the scorecard as Mahmudallah? I'm also interested to why cricketers from Pakistan and Bangladesh have their names in full (like Tamin Iqbal, instead of T Iqbal), it is it a cultural, language, or religious thing? But then Zaheer Khan and Harbhajan Singh have their names in full on the scorecards as well. Interested in why that is the case.

 

[Fusion]

Also, when the New York Times reported on the Lahore attacks they referred to Umar Gul as 'Omar.' Is this a variation common in North America? Never seen that anywhere else.

As NP explained above, Umar can be spelled many different ways. In fact, I have two cousins in my own family that share the name but spell it differently (Omar, Umer).

 

[Sanz]

So how come Mohammad Mahmullah only appears on the scorecard as Mahmudallah? I'm also interested to why cricketers from Pakistan and Bangladesh have their names in full (like Tamin Iqbal, instead of T Iqbal), it is it a cultural, language, or religious thing? But then Zaheer Khan and Harbhajan Singh have their names in full on the scorecards as well. Interested in why that is the case.

Perhaps because the last names like 'Khan', 'Singh' etc are too common.

 

[Craig]

'Smith' is one of the most common English surnames in the world, doesn't change anything on the scorecards.

 

[G.I.Joe]

'Smith' is one of the most common English surnames in the world, doesn't change anything on the scorecards.

Problem is, people with the common 'Smith' as their surname also seem to have pretty common first names.

 

[Craig]

So is 'Harbhajan' not a common name in Punjab?

 

[G.I.Joe]

So is 'Harbhajan' not a common name in Punjab?

Yeah, in Punjab, it probably is. But not on cricket scorecards. Take Graeme Smith for example. There have been plenty of Smiths and Graemes on cricket scorecards over the years. Graeme.S offers no more clarity than G.Smith. Harbhajan.S does offer more clarity than H.Singh though.

 

[Jungle Jumbo]

So how come Mohammad Mahmullah only appears on the scorecard as Mahmudallah? I'm also interested to why cricketers from Pakistan and Bangladesh have their names in full (like Tamin Iqbal, instead of T Iqbal), it is it a cultural, language, or religious thing? But then Zaheer Khan and Harbhajan Singh have their names in full on the scorecards as well. Interested in why that is the case.

I presume in Pakistan/Bangladesh it is a purely religious (Islamic) idea that has become assimilated into the national culture. Especially in Bangladesh (where I've had more experience) players are referred to predominantly by their first name (unless it is Mohammad), to the extent that players from non-Islamic countries sometimes suffer the same fate in the media. I remember one Bangladeshi newspaper, discussing the results of Australia U19 v Bangladesh U19, that David scored 45, Tom 57 and Craig took five wickets.

RE the transliteration issue - can make a huge mess of Bangladeshi English-language media. 'Z' is frequently substituted for 'J' - Zunaed/Junaid Siddique. Can become difficult to follow. Added to that the idea of using nicknames even in official media releases. You will always almost find Khaled Mashud (Masud) referred to as 'Pilot' for example.

Presumably Zaheer Khan has an Islamic background (although he is more and more frequently referred to as Z Khan) and Sikhs with the name Singh have generally been referred to by their entire name, presumably for ease of use.

 

[Craig]

Zaheer Khan is a Muslim, so that probably explains it.