An alleged comment by former Australian cricketer Ricky Ponting about India's conduct in the recent Asia Cup game against Pakistan is circulating on social media.
The viral posts claimed that Ponting supposedly referred to India as a 'big loser' for refusing post-match handshakes, while praising Pakistan as 'champions of the gentleman’s game.'
What happened?: A row triggered when India won the match against Pakistan by seven wickets in Dubai on 14 September, but avoided the traditional handshake due to political tensions following the deadly Pahalgam terror attack in April.
What we found: At first, we checked the website and social media handles of Sky Sports to check whether Ponting had given any byte or interview following the India and Pakistan's match on 14 September.
However, we did not find any credible sources or reports to prove the same.
On checking Ponting's official social media handles, we found a post shared on his X account on 16 September denying the viral quote attributed to him.
It read, "I am aware of certain comments being attributed to me on social media. Please know that I categorically did not make those statements and indeed have made no public comment about the Asia Cup at all."
The former cricketer also posted the same statement on his Instagram page on 16 September as well.
It also led us to a report by the Sydney Morning Herald which included the comment of Ponting's manager who denied authenticity of the quote and noted that it was "completely false."
Conclusion: A fake quote is being attributed to former cricketer Ricky Ponting to claim that he recently criticised India following the latter's match against Pakistan.
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