Fact Check: Viral image of Australian cricketer Maxwell bowing to Sachin Tendulkar is photoshopped

Hyderabad: An image reportedly showing Australian cricketer Glenn Maxwell bending in front of former cricketer and legend Sachin Tendulkar is making rounds on social media. Click here, here and here to view the posts.

Those sharing the image claim that it shows Maxwell touching Tendulkar’s feet as a mark of respect after the ICC Cricket World Cup match between Afghanistan and Australia at Mumbai’s Wankhede stadium on November 7. Maxwell scored a double century during the match almost single-handedly earning the victory for Australia.

The viral image is being shared with the caption, “When Sachin Tendulkar came to congratulate Maxwell yesterday in the ground, he bow down and touched feet’s of the legend, Sachin Tendulkar and asked for blessings. One of the greatest moments in the history of cricket. Salute to these great cricketer’s. He is married to an Indian. (sic)”

Fact Check

NewsMeter found that the viral image was photoshopped.

We started our investigation by performing a reverse image search using the viral image and found a similar image of Sachin Tendulkar uploaded on Getty Images. Here, you can spot Sachin Tendulkar shaking hands with an Afghanistani player.

According to the caption, “Australia & Afghanistan Net Sessions – ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup India 2023. MUMBAI, INDIA - NOVEMBER 06: Former Indian cricketer Sachin Tendulkar speaks to members of the Afghanistan cricket team prior to the Afghanistan training session at Wankhede Stadium on November 06, 2023 in Mumbai, India. (Photo by Robert Cianflone/Getty Images)”

We also found similar images of Sachin Tendulkar with the Afghanistan cricket team in the same t-shirt in the viral image at Wankhede stadium a day prior to the Afghanistan Vs Australia match.

According to a Times of India report carrying one such image of Tendulkar posing with the Afghanistan team, dated November 6, “Preparing for their 2023 world cup match against Australia at Wankhede stadium on Tuesday, Afghanistan team received the huge boost when batting legend Sachin Tendulkar, in a laudable gesture, paid a visit and give a ‘pep talk’ at their training on the eve of the game.”

Another keyword search led us to a video in which Tendulkar is seen advising and boosting the morale of the Afghanistan team for the World Cup match against Australia, on the official Facebook handle of the International Cricket Council (ICC), dated November 7.

The caption to the post reads, “A pep talk from ICC Global Ambassador Sachin Tendulkar. The India legend spoke to the Afghanistan players about his CWC journey and shared a few tips on what to expect at the Wankhede Stadium.”

Here is a comparison of the viral image and the photo of Sachin took at the time of him meeting the Afghanistan cricketers. The comparison shows that Sachin’s image has been edited from the original video and photoshopped along with Maxwell’s image to make it look like Maxwell is touching Sachin’s feet.

We also couldn’t find any media reports on Sachin going onto the ground after the match between Australia and Afghanistan.

Hence, we conclude that the viral image is photoshopped.