Claim: Former England captain and renowned commentator Nasser Hussain said that the umpires made some decisions in favour of India during the recent T20 World Cup 2022 match against Pakistan.
Fact: The statement was wrongly attributed to the commentator in posts shared online. Hussain clarified that the quote was fake and urged a social media user who shared it to delete it.
Fact or Fiction:
On 23 October 2022, Twitter user ASG (@ahadfoooty) claimed that former England captain and renowned cricket commentator Nasser Hussain said, “The umpires made some weird decision in favour of India today but maybe we should keep quiet and not upset ICC and BCCI.” The tweet has now been deleted.
During the T20 World Cup 2022 match between Pakistan and India, played at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG), the final over of the game had some controversial moments. When Virat Kohli hit Mohammad Nawaz for a six on the third ball of the 20th over, the ball was deemed a waist-height no-ball by the umpire.
Many cricket fans and social media users questioned the umpiring in the recently concluded match.
The claim was also shared on Facebook including, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, and here, among others.
Soch Fact Check found the claim to be false. Responding to the Twitter user, Hussain said the quote is fake and urged him to delete it. “Probably best if you can delete this please .. it’s fake news and a fake quote and definitely not what a great game of cricket like todays deserves !! Thanks,” he tweeted.
Probably best if you can delete this please .. it’s fake news and a fake quote and definitely not what a great game of cricket like todays deserves !! Thanks
— Nasser Hussain (@nassercricket) October 23, 2022
Virality:
According to a CrowdTangle analysis conducted by Soch Fact Check, the search term, “Nasser Hussain umpires”, turned up 130 posts on Facebook which received 99,768 interactions over the 24-hour period leading up to 24 October 2022.
The analysis revealed that Facebook page The Sarcastic Brigade’s post is performing almost 15 times better than other similar posts with 1,100 likes and 597 shares.
Meanwhile, CricGreen92’s post gained 1,500 likes and 2,000 shares, China Pakistan Economic Corridor – CPEC’s post received 2,200 likes and 637 shares and Imran khan’s post gained 1,800 likes and 1,100 shares.
On Twitter, the claim was shared including, here, here and here, among others.
Conclusion: The quote being attributed to Nasser Hussain about the umpires being biased towards India during the T20 World Cup 2022 match played in Melbourne on 23 October 2022 is fake. The commentator has called out a Twitter user for spreading fake news.