A video from the ICC Champions Trophy India–Pakistan match on February 23 in Dubai showing former Pakistani cricketer Shahid Afridi with ICC chairman Jay Shah and BJP leader Anurag Thakur, is being falsely shared as visuals from the recent India vs Pakistan Asia Cup clash.
India defeated Pakistan by seven wickets in their Asia Cup Group A match, chasing 127 runs in 15.3 overs. It was their first meeting since the Pahalgam terror attack and Operation Sindoor, which was played amid boycott calls and criticism of the BCCI for going ahead with the match.
Post the match, Indian players skipped handshakes with Pakistani players. Indian captain Suryakumar Yadav defended the move and dedicated the win to Pahalgam victims during the post match presentation, while Pakistani skipper Salman Ali Agha boycotted the presentation in protest of the Indian team not shaking hands.
Claim: Video shows Shahid Afridi, Anurag Thakur and Jay Shah seated together at Asia Cup 2025 India vs Pak match
The 12 seconds video is being shared on X with the caption, "Anurag Thakur, Jay Shah, and Shahid Afridi are in the stadium watching the India Pakistan match like high school friends. But some twitter patriots wants to boycott the game vs Pakistan #INDvPAK #AsiaCup". The video has an overlaid audio track of the slogan “Shoot those who are traitors”, a chant that Thakur had raised during an election rally in 2020.
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What We Found:
1) Video from 2025 Champions Trophy match in February
We broke the video into key-frames and ran a reverse image search which results showed that it is from February 2025, shot during the India vs Pakistan ICC Champions Trophy match on February 23 in Dubai.
2. Champions Trophy 2025 billboards in background
We also spotted Champions Trophy 2025 billboards in the background of the video in the beginning, which establishes that it is not from the ongoing 2025 Asia Cup.
3. Jay Shah, Anurag Thakur, and Shahid Afridi not seen together at Asia Cup India-Pak match
Additionally, during the broadcast of the Asia Cup 2025 India-Pakistan game, we did not find any visuals of Jay Shah, Anurag Thakur, and Shahid Afridi seated together or present in the stands.
