Following India’s dominant five-wicket victory over Pakistan in the Asia Cup final, social media erupted with celebrations. However, amidst the excitement, a fabricated screenshot began circulating online, falsely attributing a congratulatory message for Pakistan’s win to Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif.
The Fabricated Post
The screenshot, which quickly went viral with over 6 lakh views, purported to show a tweet from Shehbaz Sharif’s official account. The fake post read:
“Congratulations Pakistan, we won the Asia Cup. Pakistan won all three matches against India. Our fast bowlers were like our missiles, and our batters were like our air defense.”
Furthermore, the fabricated message claimed that the televised matches were inaccurate and that the matter would be raised with the ICC. It even credited the Pakistan Army Chief for training the team, stating, “This victory’s credit goes to Pakistan Army Chief, Syed Asim Munir, because a year ago the Pakistan Army trained the cricket team.”
Debunking the Hoax
However, the screenshot is entirely false. Investigations confirmed that Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif never posted such a message. Numerous users on the platform X (formerly Twitter) pointed out the fabrication, and even AI chatbot Grok, developed by xAI, verified that the tweet was not authentic. Official sources and sports news outlets like ESPNcricinfo and NDTV corroborated that India had, in fact, won the Asia Cup final.
Asia Cup Context
This final marked a historic moment as it was the first time India and Pakistan met in an Asia Cup final since the tournament’s inception in 1984. India had previously secured comfortable victories against Pakistan in two earlier encounters during the same tournament. It’s also worth noting that Indian cricketers reportedly refrained from shaking hands with their Pakistani counterparts after those earlier matches and again at the conclusion of the final.