This Clip of Virat Kohli Crying While Lifting IPL 2026 Trophy Is AI-Generated
The video shows signs of being AI-generated and contains discrepancies in Kohli's and Anushka Sharma's appearances.
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A video has been going viral on social media, claiming to be a real video of Virat Kohli crying while lifting the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026 trophy.
What did the post say?: The post by X user 'Arpitayadavv' featured the video with the caption, "Virat Kohli started crying after winning the trophy."
In the video, Kohli can be seen hugging his wife Anushka Sharma, as well.
How did we find out the truth?: While watching the video, we noticed that Kohli's right hand had either four or six fingers at multiple points.
Kohli can be seen with either four (left image) or six fingers (right image) at several points in the video.
(Source: X/Screenshot)
Further, the frame of the viral video is vertical for JioHotstar, which is not the case even when one uses the platform on their phone.
Also, we noticed dissimilarities in Kohli's beard style in the viral video as opposed to the one he sported during the IPL final.
The image on the left shows Kohli during the post-match presentation of the 2026 IPL final. The image on the right is a screenshot from the viral video. A marked difference in Kohli's beard can be spotted here.
(Source: Instagram/Screenshot)
We also noticed dissimilarities in the design of Anushka Sharma's top which she wore during the IPL final and the one in the viral video.
The image on the left shows Anushka Sharma during the IPL 2026 final, and the image on the right is a screenshot of the viral video. A difference in the design of her dress can be seen in the images.
(Source: Instagram/Screenshot)
What did a detection tool show?: Taking a cue from these inconsistencies, we ran the video through 'Hive Moderation', an AI-detection platform.
Upon doing so, the results showed that 98.5 percent of the video was likely to be AI-generated.
Hive Moderation indicating that the video is AI-generated.
(Source: HiveModeration/Screenshot)
We also put the audio in the viral video on an audio AI detection tool called Hiya Voice Detector. One segment of the audio got an 'Authenticity Score' of 11 out of 100 and another segment got 4 out of 100. The results indicated that the sampled voice was likely a deepfake.
(Source:Hiya Voice Protector/Screenshot)
(Source:Hiya Voice Protector/Screenshot)
Further, a simple Google search with keywords such as 'Virat Kohli crying lifting IPL trophy 2026' also did not lead us to any credible news reports on the same.
Conclusion: The video is fake and has been created using AI.
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