Clip shows panellists on Pakistani cricket show celebrating Pakistan win, not India's World Cup loss

Published on December 6, 2023 at 03:38
Updated on December 6, 2023 at 03:42
2 min read
By AFP Sri Lanka

A video watched tens of thousands of times on Facebook has misled users into believing it shows Pakistani television hosts celebrating India's defeat at the Cricket World Cup final in November 2023. The video in fact combines two unrelated clips -- one of the closing stages of the Cricket World Cup final, and the other showing panellists on a Pakistani cricket programme celebrating their team making it to the final of the T20 World Cup a year earlier.

"India has a great set of neighbours #PoorIndia," reads the Sinhala-language caption of a video shared on Facebook here on November 28, 2023.

The video, which has amassed more than 60,000 views, appears to show a TV studio with several Pakistani flags displayed on monitors and panellists dancing to Bhangra music. They appear to be reacting to the footage being played above them, which shows Australia's cricketers scoring the winning runs against India in the Cricket World Cup final.

It was shared just over a week after the match, which was held in India's Narendra Modi Stadium on November 19.

Screenshot of the false Facebook post, captured on November 24, 2023

The same clip was shared in other Facebook posts with similar claims, including here.

Comments on the posts suggest some users believed the hosts were reacting to India's defeat.

One wrote: "Look at them being cheerful, just like us."

"Indian team has such a bad attitude that even their neighbours celebrate their defeat," said another.

While one of the clips is genuine footage from the ICC Men's Cricket World Cup final held on November 19, 2023, the footage showing the hosts celebrating was in fact taken in 2022.

Celebrating Pakistan's win

A reverse image search on Google using keyframes from the video in the false post led to a YouTube clip posted on November 9, 2022 (archived link).

The YouTube clip -- starting from the fifth-second mark -- shows the same scene as the video in the false post.

Below is a screenshot comparison of the clip used in the false posts (left) and the YouTube clip (right):

Screenshot comparison of the clip used in the false posts (left) and the YouTube clip (right)

The clip, which was posted on the channel of Pakistan's A Sports, is titled: "YESSS! We're into the FINAL !!! It's time for some Bhangra and why not!"

Its description adds, "#ThePavillion panel of cricket experts jubilant as Pakistan team qualifies for the #T20WorldCup final".

The Pavilion is a Pakistani cricketing show that features former players. The show proved a hit among fans in India during the World Cup for what they called unbiased and engaging commentary.

The celebrations seen in The Pavilion clip followed Pakistan's win against New Zealand in the semi-finals of cricket's T20 World Cup, on November 8, 2022.

Several clips from The Pavilion were posted on A Sports' YouTube channel following India's loss in the Cricket World Cup Final on November 19, 2023, but none of these videos show the presenters dancing in celebration (archived link).

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