Fact Check: Mohammad Shami hits century in test match against England? No, here is the truth
A viral video showing highlights of Mohammad Shami’s batting against England is being shared with the claim that he hit a century in the match.
By M Ramesh Naik Published on 30 Dec 2024 11:18 AM IST
Claim: The video shows Mohammad Shami hitting a century in a test match against England.
Fact: The claim is false. The video shows Mohammad Shami scoring a game-changing 56 (not out) against England at Lord’s in 2021. The scoreboard display was separately generated to show fake data.
Hyderabad: A video showing highlights of cricketer Mohammad Shami’s batting has gone viral with the claim that it shows him scoring a century in a test match against England. The video also shows the reactions of his teammates, including Virat Kohli, from the Lord’s Cricket Ground dressing room.
An Instagram user shared the video and wrote: “Mohammad Shami century 100.” (Archive)
Similar posts can be found here and here. (Archive)(Archive)
Fact Check
NewsMeter found that the claim is false. In the match featured in the video, Mohammad Shami did not score a century but hit a game-changing 56 (not out) against England at Lord’s in 2021.
Using keyword searches, we found a longer video of the match highlights shared by Lord’s Cricket Ground channel on YouTube on August 9, 2023. The title read: ‘Sensational Shami Hits Unbeaten Half-Century at Lord's | England v India 2021’.
The batting visuals in the highlights of the viral video and the YouTube video are the same except for the scorecard display at the bottom.
Here is a comparison between the viral video and the Lord’s Cricket Ground YouTube video.
A comparison of both scorecards showed that the one in the viral video was wrong. Going through the data on Shami’s batting record so far showed that he has never scored a century in a test match. According to the records, Mohammad Shami’s highest test score is 56 (not out), achieved during this match.
Also, while the viral video showed Ishant Sharma at the other end while Shami was batting, the scorecard displayed Bumrah’s name, which confirmed that the scorecard was separately generated to falsely show Shami hitting a century.
We also found the full highlights of the test match uploaded by the England & Wales Cricket Board (ECB) on YouTube on August 17, 2021.
The video was titled: ‘India Claim Thrilling Win! | England v India - Day 5 Highlights | 2nd LV= Insurance Test 2021.’ Shami’s batting can be seen from the 2:19 to 6:12-minute mark, confirming it as England vs. India's 2nd test match held at Lord’s from August 12-16, 2021.
The official scorecard of the test match against England can be seen here and here.
Media outlets also reported India’s victory at Lord’s on August 16, 2021. The reports are here, here and here.
Therefore, we conclude that the claim that Mohammad Shami hit a century during a test match against England is false. The scoreboard display in the viral video is separately generated and it shows fake data.
