Morphed photo shows fan supporting Pak’s Babar Azam during recent Ind–NZ match
A photo of a man holding a placard in support of Pakistan cricketer Babar Azam is doing the rounds on social media.
By Md Mahfooz Alam Published on 31 Jan 2023 10:25 AM GMT
Hyderabad: A photo of a man holding a placard in support of Pakistan cricketer Babar Azam is doing the rounds on social media. The text on the placard reads, “Sorry Virat sir but Babar Azam is the god of cricket for me…. #77.” (Archive)
Twitter users have claimed that the photo is from a cricket match played between India and New Zealand in Ranchi.
Click here to see the post.
(Click here and here to see more posts.)
The photo is also circulating on Facebook.
This comes after New Zealand beat India by 21 runs on 27 January in Ranchi in the first encounter of the three-match T20 series. India levelled the series by defeating New Zealand by six wickets in the second match on 29 January.
Fact Check
NewsMeter found that the photo has been morphed.
A user commenting on one of the viral posts tweeted the original photo which shows the same man in the same attire holding a placard that reads, “Sorry Sachin sir but M.S. Dhoni is the god of cricket for me…. #7.”
Babar Azam’s jersey number is 56 and M.S. Dhoni used to wear jersey number 7. The jersey number mentioned on the placard is 7, which confirms that the viral placard has been morphed.
Further, we performed a reverse image search and found the original photo published by DNA and ESPN Cricinfo in 2018. It shows the same man in the same attire holding a placard that reads, “Sorry Sachin sir but M.S. Dhoni is the god of cricket for me…. #7.”
Thus, it is clear that the viral photo of a fan supporting Pak cricketer Babar Azam is morphed. The photo is not from a cricket match between India Vs New that was recently played in Ranchi. Hence, we conclude that the claim is misleading.
