India TV Fact Check: Indian cricket team stars Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli are the subjects of numerous viral social media posts claiming that both players have expressed a desire to go to Pakistan for the Champions Trophy 2025. However, a fact-check of these claims has revealed them to be completely false.
What is going viral?
A post purportedly from Indian cricket team captain Rohit Sharma and legendary batsman Virat Kohli is going viral on social media. According to this post, Virat and Rohit have expressed support for going to Pakistan for the Champions Trophy 2025. A Facebook user named Hari Shankar Kushwaha wrote, "Virat Kohli said I have no problem in going to Pakistan and playing the Champions Trophy, he is also like our brother...." Meanwhile, Facebook user Sachin Chauhan wrote, "Rohit Sharma said, 'I have no problem in playing the Champions Trophy with Pakistan. He is like our brother.'"
India TV investigated
This claim regarding Virat Kholi and Rohit Sharma was gaining traction on social media, so we decided to investigate. First, we used Google Open Search to look for news related to Virat and Rohit's statements about going to Pakistan for the Champions Trophy. However, we found no such news where either player made such statements. Next, we checked the X (formerly Twitter) handles of Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma but found no such statements there either. Further investigation led us to a tweet from ANI quoting BCCI sources, which stated that the Indian team will not go to Pakistan for the Champions Trophy and that the ICC has been asked to consider holding the matches in Dubai or Sri Lanka. It was clear that Virat and Rohit had not made any statements as claimed in the viral social media posts.
What came out in Fact Check?
A fact check conducted by India TV has revealed that Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli have not made any statements supporting the idea of going to Pakistan for the Champions Trophy 2025. The viral claim on social media is completely false.
