DigitEye India Fact Checkers
Indian cricketer Virat Kohli recently scored his 49th one-day international century during a World Cup match against South Africa. He equalled Sachin Tendulkar’s record with this feat. He accumulated 101 runs from 127 balls. India set a target of 327 runs. The match concluded with South Africa losing by a margin of 243 runs, as they were all out for 83 runs in 27.1 overs.
As congratulatory messages started pouring in for the cricketer, a tweet of his alleged Instagram story went viral on social media. A viral tweet shows that after Kohli scored his 49th ODI century, he took to his Instagram to share a story. The cricketer allegedly posted an image that showed his solidarity with the people of Gaza. Many people took it as Kohli’s support for the war-struck region. Some fans also said that by posting this story Kohli dedicated his century to Gaza.
A verified handle on X (formerly, Twitter) posted a screenshot.
https://twitter.com/rheahhh_/status/1721144688294670797?s=20
FACT CHECK
We checked Virat Kohli’s Instagram to find relevant clues. The cricketer has not posted anything about the Israel-Palestine conflict on his Instagram feed. He has also not posted about the same on his Stories.
Instagram Stories disappear after 24 hours of being posted. They can disappear earlier if the user happens to delete them. The handle that shared the viral screenshot added that the cricketer deleted the story after “outrage from RW.”
https://twitter.com/rheahhh_/status/1721148565479981416
However, if that would have been the case, it would have been reported by media organizations in detail. We did not find any news report that talked about this story and about the fact that he was made to pull the story down. This is highly unlikely because, by virtue of him being popular, media organizations keep a close watch on his stories. Quite interestingly, Virat Kohli happened to achieve that feat on his birthday and that would mean that news outlets keep an even close watch on his social media handles.
Virat Kohli has 292 million followers on Instagram. It is unlikely that this story would go unnoticed. Yet, there is no report of any such activity by the cricketer.
The viral tweet is, hence, fake and the screenshot has been doctored.
CLAIM: Virat Kohli posted a story where he expressed his solidarity with Gaza.
CONCLUSION: The claim that Kohli posted a story for Gaza and dedicated his 49th ODI century to the war-struck region is false. The cricketer has not posted any message of this sort. There are no verified news reports regarding the same. The screenshot has been doctored.
FACT CHECK: ??? – Misrepresentation
