Andrew Symonds is not alive, statement attributed to him about the Asia Cup 2023 final is fake

A statement attributed to former Australian cricketer Andrew Symonds is viral on social media. Symonds allegedly raised questions over how the final match of Asia Cup 2023 between India and Sri Lanka turned up.

The statement reads, “The way SL turned up today it seems like some sort of arrangement was already made behind the scenes, to see a team that has reached the finals play in this manner raises quite a few questions but maybe we should keep quiet and not upset the ACC & BCCI.”

Click here to see the post.

Fact Check

NewsMeter found the claim false. After the humiliating defeat to Sri Lanka in the final of Asia Cup 2023, the viral statement is being falsely linked to a former Australian cricketer. Andrew Symonds passed away in a car accident in 2022.

We ran a relevant keyword search but the results did not throw up any report regarding the statement. However, we came across several reports from 2022, which confirmed that Andrew Symonds had died in a car crash outside of Townsville in his home state of Queensland.

The official X handle of the International Cricket Council (ICC) on May 15, 2022, had also posted about the tragic death of the Australian legend at the age of 46.

Symonds burst into International cricket during the 2003 World Cup, where he scored an unbeaten 143 in Johannesburg early in the tournament, and helped Australia remain unbeaten and defeat India in a one-sided final.

He played 198 ODIs, scoring six centuries and 30 half-centuries. With his handy off-spin and medium pace, he also scalped 133 wickets.

Hence, we conclude that the statement attributed to Andrew Symonds is false.