A fraudster repeatedly impersonated a former Pakistan cricketer and tricked the BBC into paying him to appear on shows as an “expert” of the game, a report published by The Telegraph said.

Nadeem Alam — posed as former cricketer Nadeem Abbasi — acted as a cricket pundit to the BBC World News, BBC Asian Network and Radio Five Live.

More astounding, the only cricket Alam has ever played was for his hometown of Huddersfield. He even took part in a dialogue with former Indian cricketer Aakash Chopra.

When Abbasi found out about the fraudster, he deplored the BBC on failing to check facts.

In an interview to British tabloid The Sun, Abbasi said: “If I ever find Nadeem Alam, I will punch him in the face for damaging the country's reputation.

“The BBC is a big institution and surely they must check?”

The Sun also took the impersonator Nadeem Alam on record. Alam said he is “no longer pretending to be Nadeem Abbasi”, adding: “I like to think I have been talking good cricket.”

After the incident, a BBC spokesman said: “We apologise to the real Mr Abbasi and we will be looking seriously into what has happened.”