Fact Check: Ish Sodhi tears up during India’s national anthem at the T20 World Cup final? Here’s the truth
As India celebrates the T20 World Cup win, a video showing Ish Sodhi, an Indian-born New Zealand cricketer, appearing emotional has gone viral on social media and in several news reports.
By - K Sherly Sharon
Claim:Indian-born New Zealand cricketer Ish Sodhi became emotional during the Indian national anthem before the T20 World Cup final.
Fact:Misleading. The clip is from a New Zealand vs South Africa match on February 14.
Hyderabad: The India men’s national cricket team on March 8 clinched the T20 World Cup title after defeating New Zealand in the final at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad.
In this context, a videos and images showing Indian-born New Zealand cricketer Ish Sodhi appearing emotional has gone viral on social media. Posts circulating with the video claim that Sodhi was seen with tears in his eyes before the final match as the Indian national anthem played in the stadium.
A news report published by Republic World on March 8 shared the viral video with the headline, “WATCH | Ish Sodhi Gets Teary-Eyed During India's National Anthem Ahead of T20 WC Final vs India; Emotional Clip Goes Viral.” Economic Times also published a similar report suggesting that Sodhi was emotional during the World Cup final. (Archive 1 and Archive 2)
Sharing the image on social media, a user wrote, “Standing in a World Cup final against India — the country where he was born — Ish Sodhi was seen getting emotional during the Indian national anthem. It was a powerful reminder of how deeply sport and identity can connect with personal history.” (Archive)
Another Instagram user wrote, “Ish Sodhi Moved to Tears in Emotional World Cup Final Homecoming. New Zealand spinner Ish Sodhi shared a deeply personal moment today, visibly emotional during the national anthems ahead of the T20 World Cup 2026 final against India.” (Archive)
Fact Check
NewsMeter found that the claim is misleading. The viral video does not show Sodhi tearing up before the World Cup final. Instead, it is from a match against South Africa on February 14.
Using keyword searches, we found the viral clip of Sodhi with tears in his eyes shared on Instagram on February 23 by the user ‘aimias_studycircle’. The caption states that the video shows Sodhi during the New Zealand national anthem. The post also highlights that the incident took place on February 14 during New Zealand’s match against South Africa.
The caption reads, “Ish Sodhi was crying during the New Zealand national anthem. During the NZ vs SA T20 World Cup match (14 Feb 2026), cameras captured an emotional moment — tears in his eyes while singing the anthem.”
According to the ICC official website, New Zealand and South Africa faced each other twice in the tournament: once in the group stage and once in the semi-final. On March 4, New Zealand beat South Africa by nine wickets. On February 14, South Africa defeated New Zealand by seven wickets.
To confirm this, we checked the replay of New Zealand’s match against South Africa on February 14. During the New Zealand national anthem, we found the clip where Sodhi appeared emotional. The same clip is now going viral on social media. Screenshots of this moment can be seen below.
It is clear that Indian-born New Zealand cricketer Ish Sodhi did not get emotional during the Indian national anthem at the T20 World Cup final. He appeared emotional during the New Zealand national anthem before the match against South Africa on February 14.
Therefore, NewsMeter concludes that the viral claim is misleading.
