India TV Fact Check: A viral social media post claims that Indian cricketer Mohammed Shami and former tennis player Sania Mirza are dating. The post has been widely circulated online, sparking discussions and speculation.
What is going viral?
Some pictures of Mohammed Shami and Sania Mirza are going viral with claims that they are dating. The caption of one such post going viral on social media reads, "Beautiful picture of Mohammed Shami and Sania Mirza, congratulations Shami Bhai." The caption of another post reads, "Lovely picture of Mohammed Shami and Sania Mirza in Dubai." People have also made many types of comments on both of these posts.
These pictures are going viral
India TV did investigation
Since this post was going viral on social media and was being shared linking it to Sania Mirza and Mohammed Shami's dating, we decided to investigate this claim. During this investigation, to confirm the claim, we first did a Google search using keywords, but we did not find any credible news report confirming the claims made in the viral post.
As part of the investigation, the Desk carefully analysed the viral images and identified several inconsistencies, indicating they might be fake or AI-generated. For example, the faces in the viral image appeared artificially inserted. Following this observation, the team used an AI detection tool, which revealed a significant likelihood of AI-generated or deepfake content in the images.
AI-generated pictures
During our investigation, we also came across a report by Hindustan Times, where Shami refuted the rumours about his supposed marriage to Sania Mirza.
Mohammed Shami said, "Ajeeb hi hai aur hai kya usme? zabardasti kiya hai par kya karien? Phone kholo toh apna hi photo dikhta hai. Lekin mai ek hi cheez bolna chahunga - Kisiko nehi kheechna chahiye aisa. Main maanta hu memes aapke mazaak ke liye hai lekin kisi ke life se related hote hai. Toh aapko bari soch samajh kar memes banana chahiye. Aaj aap verified page nehi ho, aapka address nehi hai, known nehi ho toh aap bol sakte ho." ( It is weird and done purposely for some lame fun. But what can be done? If I open my phone then I could see those memes. But I would only like to say I think that memes are made for fun, but if they are related to someone's life, then you must think about it and then share such things. These people share from unverified pages and get away by saying anything and everything)."
Find news related to Sania Mirza and Mohammed Shami
"Lekin mai ek hi cheez bolna chahunga - agar aap mein dum hai toh verified page se bolke dikhao, fir hum batate hai. Dusre ki taang kheechna bohot aasan hai. Success achieve karo, apna level upar karo. Tab main manunga aap acche insaan hai." ( But I would like to say one thing - if you have the guts to say all these things from a verified page, then I will reply. Try achieving success, help people and upgrade yourself then I will believe that you are a good person)," Shami said.
What came out in fact check?
India TV's fact-check confirmed that the viral social media post claiming cricketer Mohammed Shami and tennis player Sania Mirza are dating is false. The circulating images were found to be AI-generated. Mohammed Shami has also issued a statement denying the claim. As the post was spread with false information, people are advised to exercise caution regarding such misleading content.
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