A video showing the crowd chanting 'Pakistan Murdabad' slogans against Pakistani cricket players arriving at the Hyderabad airport, is doctored. BOOM found that the original video does not have any anti-Pakistan slogans being raised.
On September 27, 2023, the Pakistani cricket team arrived at Rajiv Gandhi International Airport in Hyderabad ahead of the ICC men's ODI World Cup 2023 that starts next month in India. Pakistan is set to play its first match against the Netherlands on October 6, 2023, in Hyderabad.
The Pakistan team has come to India after a gap of seven years as they last played on Indian soil during the ICC T20 World Cup in 2016. Both countries have not played a bilateral series since 2012, and have faced off against each other at ICC events only.
In the viral video, several Pakistani players are seen standing in line at the airport including Pakistan's captain Babar Azam, as slogans of 'Pakistan murdabad' can be heard. The 20 second video was posted on X (formerly Twitter) by the handle @Abhishekkkk10 with the caption, "Pakistan Murdabad chants were raised when Pakistan teππorist team arrived in Bharat. Based public. I bow down to them #PakistanCricketTeam"
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The same video was also shared by several other X handles with the same false claim.
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FACT-CHECK
BOOM found that the audio in the viral video with chants of 'Pakistan murdabad' was overlaid in it and in the original video no anti-Pakistan slogans could be heard.
On breaking the video into keyframes and running a keyword search we found the original video posted on September 27 at 9.03 pm by the X handle Cricket & Stuff (@cricketandstuff) with the caption, "Wherever he goes, there is only one name on everybody’s lips…Babar Azam. The King has arrived in Hyderabad"
In this video, we can hear the crowd shouting "Babar bhai, Babar bhai", calling out to Pakistani captain Babar Azam. No anti-Pakistan slogans can be heard in the original video.
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Additionally, we found several other videos from the Hyderabad airport of the Pakistan cricket team getting a warm reception from the crowd.
Pakistan cricket board's official X handle also posted a video of the team in Hyderabad being welcomed with cheers from the crowd at the airport and when they reach their hotel. Pakistan Cricket (@TheRealPCB) posted the video with the caption, "A warm welcome in Hyderabad as we land on Indian shores #WeHaveWeWill | #CWC23"