Kiwi commentator Simon Doull did not say ‘Living in Pakistan is like living in jail’
Doull denied the claim on his Instagram account on 16 April.
By Md Mahfooz Alam
(Source: Republic)
Hyderabad: Last week, several social media users and media outlets claimed that former New Zealand cricketer and commentator Simon Doull, who was commenting during the Pakistan Super League 2023, revealed that he was harassed in Pakistan. The harassment reportedly happened after he criticised Babar Azam’s selfish approach in the tournament.
Media outlets such as Republic, DNA, and OpIndia quoted Doull reportedly as saying, “Living In Pakistan Is Like Living In Jail.” Republic attributed the claim to Pakistan news outlet Geo News.
(Source: Republic)
Fact Check
NewsMeter found that Doull denied the claim on his Instagram account on 16 April.
We ran a keyword search and found a report by Geo News published on 13 April. It denied reporting any such statement attributed to Doull and also said the commentator has not made such a statement.
Pakistan cricket journalist Saj Sadiq, in a tweet on 13 April, said he spoke to Doull and he said that “he loved his time in Pakistan.” He also denied the claim about staying without food for many days in Pakistan.
On 16 April, Doull took to Instagram to rubbish the claim. He said, “It is sad when so-called news channels publish false stories that are made up from fake social media accounts. Please note Absolutely None of this is true. I loved my time in Pakistan and also love my time in India. Stop the hatred and vitriol towards one another, please. And stop publishing this for your own agenda you sad people.”
Hence, we conclude that the viral quote attributed to Simon Doull is false.
