| schema:text
| - Fact Check: No, Babar Azam DIDN'T accuse umpires of helping India with 'no-ball' call, fake quote goes viral
Many online also shared Babar Azam's alleged quote, where the Pakistani skipper supposedly took a dig at the umpires for favouring India.
Listen to Story
India Today Fact Check
Although Babar Azam initially argued with the on-field umpires over the no-ball call, he did not criticise the umpires' decision on any public platform.
Following India’s nail-biting victory against Pakistan in the T20 World Cup, social media saw a deluge of photos and videos from the match, especially from Virat Kohli's innings. There has also been some controversy and outrage about the “no-ball” call in the last over of the match.
At a time when India needed 13 runs from three balls, Pakistani left-arm spinner Mohammad Nawaz offered Kohli a full toss which the latter sent over the boundary line. The umpires called it a 'no-ball' for its height, helping India get a free hit on the next ball. This obviously contributed to India’s victory.
Many online also shared Babar Azam’s alleged quote, where the Pakistani skipper supposedly took a dig at the umpires for favouring India. A Facebook page named “Best Hindi News” shared a photo of Babar Azam alongside the alleged quote, "It was the umpires who led to India’s victory. The ball that Kohli hit for a six was not a no-ball."
AFWA's investigation has found that Babar Azam made no such comments. We also found no evidence that he criticised the umpires' calls in front of the media.
AFWA Probe
We found an Indian Express report quoting Pakistani cricketers like Wasim Akram, Waqar Younis, and Shoaib Malik who asked why the on-field umpires did not consult with the third umpire before calling the delivery a no-ball during such a crucial moment in the match. There were no reports, however, that quoted Babar Azam making such accusations.
On the contrary, Babar Azam admitted to Pakistan’s “mistakes” in the last over. During a post-match press conference, the Pakistan skipper was asked if he thought strike bowlers like Shaheen Afridi and Naseem Shah should have bowled the last over instead of Mohammad Nawaz.
Babar explained that he wanted to pick up wickets from his strike bowlers early by giving away fewer runs so that Mohammad Nawaz got maximum runs to defend. He added, "Indian batsmen played sensibly as they knew that we have an over left from a spinner. There too, we bowled a no-ball and a couple of wides." The part where Babar speaks about the 'no-ball' can be heard around the 6-minute mark.
Aside from this press conference, Babar spoke during the post-match presentation ceremony, but did not mention anything about the no-ball call.
He was also seen giving a pep talk to the team in the dressing room following his team's defeat. There, he specially mentioned the name of Mohammad Nawaz and told his teammates not to lose heart as it was just the beginning of the tournament.
We also reached out to Sumit Ghosh, a sports journalist with a leading Bengali daily newspaper. He added that "although Babar was seen getting into an argument with the umpire when the no-ball was called, he did not get vocal about it after the match."
Therefore, it is more than evident that a fictional comment quoting Babar Azam has gone viral on social media.
Please share it on our at 73 7000 7000
You can also send us an email at factcheck@intoday.com
|
![[RDF Data]](/fct/images/sw-rdf-blue.png)
![[cxml]](/fct/images/cxml_doc.png)
![[csv]](/fct/images/csv_doc.png)
![[text]](/fct/images/ntriples_doc.png)
![[turtle]](/fct/images/n3turtle_doc.png)
![[ld+json]](/fct/images/jsonld_doc.png)
![[rdf+json]](/fct/images/json_doc.png)
![[rdf+xml]](/fct/images/xml_doc.png)
![[atom+xml]](/fct/images/atom_doc.png)
![[html]](/fct/images/html_doc.png)