Fact Check: Sunil Gavaskar did not criticise BCCI after India vs Pak match was washed out
NewsMeter found that the veteran cricketer has not made any such statement. The viral statement has been falsely attributed to him.
By Md Mahfooz Alam Published on 5 Sep 2023 7:32 AM GMT
Screengrab of the X post.
A statement criticising the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) after the washout of the India-Pakistan Asia Cup 2023 match is being attributed to former Indian cricketer Sunil Gavaskar.
The social media users have claimed that Gavaskar shamed the Indians for hijacking the cricket.
An X user has shared a post claiming that Gavaskar was quoted by NDTV as saying, “It should be a matter of utter shame for us as Indians for politicizing, ruining and basically hijacking this beautiful game of cricket. BCCI has let India down and tonight’s results are a testimony of it.”
(Image Credit: X/@AbukSports)
Several X and Facebook users have shared the same claim.
Link to the posts here, here, and here.
Fact Check
NewsMeter found that the statement attributed to Sunil Gavaskar is fake. The veteran cricketer has not made any such statement.
We ran a relevant keyword search and came across a clarification by Rohan Gavaskar, the former cricketer and son of Sunil Gavaskar, refuting the claim.
In one of his quote-reposted X posts, he said, “This is a completely fabricated statement attributed to my father. He hasn’t made this statement and someone is just trying to create mischief. It’s absolutely ridiculous that people would use his name to get more engagement. Please retweet so that the truth prevails.”
Further clarifying in another post, he said that his father had signed a contract with India Today, so he would not speak to NDTV.
Next, we checked two recent videos of Gavaskar speaking with India Today but did not find him speaking critically about BCCI. (Click here and here to watch the videos.)
Had any critical statement about BCCI been made by the veteran cricketer, the mainstream media would have reported it. However, we did not find any report.
Hence, we conclude that the viral statement attributed to Sunil Gavaskar is false.
