Claim: Former cricketer Saeed Ajmal has said that Shahid Afridi has always engaged in dirty politics in cricket.
Fact: The statement was not reported by any credible news outlets and appears to be falsely attributed to Ajmal. He has denied saying anything of this sort about Afridi.
On 20 June 2024, X (formerly Twitter) user Gabbar (@QHJ_98) posted (archive) a statement by Pakistan’s former fast bowler Saeed Ajmal about cricketer Shahid Afridi. The statement reads, “شاہد آفریدی نے کرکٹ میں بھی ہمیشہ گھٹیا سیاست کی ہے [Shahid Afridi has always done dirty politics in cricket too].”
Saeed Ajmal
Saeed Ajmal is a former Pakistani cricketer renowned for his exceptional skills as an off-spin bowler. Born on 14 October 1977, in Faisalabad, Pakistan, Ajmal made his debut for the national team in 2008. He quickly became one of the world’s leading spinners, known for his deceptive doosra delivery.
Ajmal’s career highlights include playing an instrumental role in Pakistan’s semi-final run in the 2011 ICC Cricket World Cup and a key role in the team’s success during the 2009 ICC World T20, which was won by Pakistan.
Ajmal played under Shahid Afridi’s captaincy including during the ICC T20 World Cup in 2009 and the ICC Cricket World Cup in 2011.
Fact or Fiction?
Soch Fact Check noticed that ABC Urdu’s name appears at the bottom right of the graphic. Taking a cue from this, we searched the Urdu caption on X and found a post (archive) by ABC Urdu News (@ABCNewsUrdu), a news and media website, with the same statement posted on 23 March 2024. We ascertained that the statement attributed to Ajmal circulated on social media earlier in March, but it has resurfaced again.
Soch Fact Check also found that the cricketer clarified on 19 June that the statement is fake. Ajmal urged @ABCNewsUrdu to take it down and admit its inauthenticity, warning of potential action if they don’t.
Apart from ABC Urdu News, we could not find any credible news outlets that reported Ajmal’s statement about Afridi. Therefore, it appears that the statement has been falsely attributed to the cricketer.
Virality:
The claim can be found here, here, here, here and here on X.
The post by @ABCNewsUrdu received significant traction with 29,000 views, 3,800 likes and 1,300 shares in March.
It was posted here and here on Facebook.
Conclusion: Viral posts claiming that former cricketer Saeed Ajmal said that Shahid Afridi has always engaged in dirty politics in cricket, appear to be false. The statement was not reported by any credible news outlets and Ajmal has explicitly denied making any such remarks about the former all-rounder.
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