A morphed screenshot of an Instagram story by Indian cricketer Virat Kohli mocking Pakistan for losing the final T20 World Cup match against England is being shared on social media. BOOM found that the original Insta story by Virat Kohli, where he congratulates England, does not have any reference or expletives against Pakistan.
England beat Pakistan by six wickets and won their second World Cup T20 title at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) on November 13, 2022. After the match, Kohli along with several other prominent cricketers posted on social media congratulating England for winning the cup.
A graphic by the Facebook page MiddIe Stump cricket showed a screenshot appearing to be an Instagram story, where Kohli is congratulating England and mocking Pakistan. The caption with the post reads, "Latest Insta story of Indian cricketer Virat Kohli. Very shameful stuff from Virat Kohli."
The text of the edited Instagram story screenshot reads, "Congratulations England and Pakistan ******"
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The same graphic is being shared on Facebook with the edited screenshot.
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Also Read:Old Videos Of Indian Cricketers Revived As Recent After T20 Semi Final Loss
FACT-CHECK
BOOM found that the viral graphic has an edited screenshot and Virat Kohli did not mock Pakistan in his original Instagram story. Kohli had only congratulated England on winning the T20 World Cup final and did not mention Pakistan at all in his post.
In the original Instagram story, which Kohli had posted on November 13, 2022, the caption reads, "Congratulations England. Well deserved". The story also has a screengrab of one of the winning moments of England, taken from a television. The text mocking Pakistan in the viral screenshot after this sentence has been edited and added onto the Insta story to make the false claim.
Instagram stories vanish automatically after 24 hours of the user posting it.
The original Instagram story was seen by this writer when Kohli posted it, and has also been widely reported about by several news outlets. Read Hindustan Times' report from November 13, 2022 below.
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