Image of Pakistan cricket captain ignoring Indian skipper's handshake is AI-generated

"Agha be like, we don't shake hands with beggars. But Agha shouldn't have done this," reads the caption of a Facebook post shared on February 15, 2026.

India and Pakistan's refusal to shake hands during their 2025 Asia Cup cricket matches amid heightened geopolitical tensions following the clash between the South Asian nuclear-abled neighbours became an example of how cricket mirrors politics between the two countries (archived link).

The image included in the post purportedly shows Pakistan captain Salman Agha ignoring India opposite number Suryakumar Yadav on field. 

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Screenshot of the false post captured on February 24, 2026, with a red X and AI label added by AFP

The image appeared in similar posts on Facebook, Instagram, Threads and X as Pakistan and India -- arch-rivals both on and off field -- faced each other in their Group A  fixture during the ongoing T20 World Cup in Colombo on February 15.

Co-hosted by India and Sri Lanka, the World Cup has been overshadowed by an acrimonious political build-up after Bangladesh, who refused to play in India citing security concerns, were replaced by Scotland.

As a protest, Pakistan refused to face co-hosts India but after Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif spoke with the Sri Lankan president, Islamabad directed its cricket team to play India on February 15, ending a week-long standoff (archived link).

While captains of the two countries did not shake hands on day of the highly-awaited standoff  on February 15 (archived link), the picture circulating in false posts is not genuine. The Gemini logo at the bottom right corner of the picture indicates it was made using tech giant Google's AI model (archived link). 

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Screenshot of the false image with the Gemini watermark magnified by AFP

Further analysis of the video on Google's AI detection tool SynthID found a "very high" likelihood the image was created using AI tools (archived link).

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Screenshots of SynthID analysis

An AFP photo also showed Agha just walked past Yadav after the coin toss for their February 15 match.

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Pakistan's captain Salman Agha (back R) walks past his Indian counterpart Suryakumar Yadav (back R) after the toss before the start of the 2026 ICC Men's T20 Cricket World Cup group stage match between India and Pakistan at the R Premadasa Stadium in Colombo on February 15, 2026. (AFP / Ishara S. KODIKARA)

AFP has previously debunked other cricket-related misinformation stemming from India-Pakistan on-field rivalry.

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