In the opening match of the 2023 Men’s Cricket World Cup, England were resoundingly beaten by New Zealand by nine wickets. Amid this, a report related to the Pakistan cricket team has gone viral on on social media, claiming that Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan visited Ujjain Mahakaleshwar temple before their first World Cup match.
A Facebook user shared this video and wrote: “क्या वर्ल्ड कप से पहले पहुचे बाबर आजम और मोहम्मद रिज़वान बाबा महाकाल के दर्शन करने.” [English translation: Did Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan reach Baba Mahakal before the World Cup?]
This Facebook post can be seen here. Watch similar posts here and here.
FACT CHECK
NewMobile fact-checked the above claim, and found it to be False.
In the initial investigation, we could not find any credible media report which corroborates the viral claim. We also checked the social media handles of both Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan, but could not find any post related to the viral claim.
Running a Reverse Image Search of the video keyframes, our team found a similar image in The Indian Express report, dated January 2023. However, in the feature image, Indian batsman Suryakumar Yadav and spinner Kuldeep Yadav can be seen in the temple, not Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan. According to the report, Indian cricketers Suryakumar Yadav, Kuldeep Yadav, Washington Sundar and other Indian cricketers visited Mahakaleshwar Temple in Ujjain.
The photo in which Babar Azam is seen wearing a Rudraksh garland is fake. The original picture is of the Indian bowler Umesh Yadav, who visited Mahakal Temple in March 2023. Our team observed a tattoo on the arm of Suryakumar Yadav in the original picture, which is also visible on the arm of Babar Azam. This indicates that the images of Suryakumar Yadav and Kuldeep Yadav have been digitally altered. Below you can see a comparision.
Foxy’s website had also published a report on September 29, 2023. But to our surprise, this article was also found to be fictitious, and written solely for humour.
Thus, it is confirmed that the viral video is morphed with fake claims.
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