Does this footage really show New Zealand cricketer Ish Sodhi getting emotional during India’s national anthem? Fact Check

Claim : New Zealand cricketer Ish Sodhi gets emotional during India’s national anthem during the ICC T20 World Cup 2026.

Conclusion : The claim is false. The moment was neither during the Indian anthem nor from the March 8, 2026 T20 world cup finals. The clip dates back to New Zealand vs South Africa T20 world cup match on February 14, where Sodhi got emotional during the New Zealand anthem.

Rating : False

Several social media users have shared a clip of Ish Sodhi crying, claiming that this moment was during the Indian National Anthem. Instagram user ‘ludhianadiariesofficial’ shared such a post with a part of the caption : “Ludhiana-born New Zealand cricketer Ish Sodhi was seen getting emotional during India’s national anthem ahead of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup at Narendra Modi Stadium.” View the post below –

Other users have shared similar claims that can be found here and here with some different background audio.

Bro mirgated to New Zealand to become a cricketer, now he is the cricketer of kiwis but playing against his nation India, made him cry on the national anthem. 💔pic.twitter.com/XQojhJMgqk

— ` (@wokenupkohli) March 8, 2026

FACT CHECK

DigitEYE India decided to investigate this claim and found that it is false. The clip is not from the March 8, 2026 T20 Cricket final match and also has no connection to the Indian national anthem. It is from the New Zealand vs South Africa match on February 14, 2026, where Ish Sodhi was seen getting emotional during New Zealand’s national anthem.

We first conducted a web search with the phrase “India vs New Zealand player lineup” to check whether Ish Sodhi played or not. As per the official ‘playing XI’ published on Cricbuzz, we found no mentions of Ish Sodhi in the main team. Instead, he was listed under the ‘bench’ section, indicating that he was not playing during the finals. View a screenshot below – 

Next, we conducted a reverse image search to learn about the real context of the moment. After going through various results, one post mentions that this was during New Zealand vs South Africa on February 14, 2026.  We verified this by checking the official replay of New Zealand vs South Africa (from 14 February, 2026) on JioHotstar. (06.23 timestamp).View the screenshot below – 

Therefore the footage shows Ish Sodhi got emotional during the New Zealand national anthem in an earlier group-stage match against South Africa on February 14, 2026. In the replay, New Zealand’s national anthem can clearly be heard and not India’s.

Thus, the claim is false.

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