Fact Check: Did Rohit Sharma give Man of the Match cheque to ground staff?

Hyderabad: An image of Indian skipper Rohit Sharma with ground staff is circulating on social media. The image allegedly shows the ground staff holding Sharma’s Man of the Match cheque, while the Indian captain stood in front of them.

Several X users shared the image with the caption, “Rohit handed the man of the match award to the ground’s staff. My captain. (sic)”

The claim comes after India defeated Pakistan by a record 228 runs in the Super Four stage of the Asia Cup. The game was halted due to frequent rain and was extended to the reserve day.

Fact Check

NewsMeter found that former Indian captain Virat Kohli was declared the Man of the Match for his unbeaten 122 runs, not Rohit Sharma.

On performing a reverse image search, we found the original image in a report by Lokmantra from September 12, 2023, titled ‘Ind Vs Pak: Not Kohli, Rahul, Kuldeep, these are the real heroes, thanks to the captain.’

However, this image does not show any cheque in the hands of the groundsmen.

We also ran a keyword search but did not find any report of Indian captain Rohit Sharma presenting the cheque to the groundsmen. Had such a gesture been shown by the Indian captain, it would have likely gained media attention.

However, we came across a report by India Today, which said Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli lauded the groundskeepers after the India vs. Pakistan rain-affected game, which had multiple interruptions over two days but successfully ended with India defeating Pakistan on September 11.

Hence, we conclude that the claim of Indian captain Rohit Sharma presenting his Man of the Match cheque to ground staff is false. The viral image is morphed.