India TV Fact Check: A photo of cricketer Virat Kohli is going viral on social media platforms with a claim that the Indian batter has purchased a new Audi RS 5 Coupé. However, when India TV fact-checked this claim, it turned out to be completely false.
What is going viral?
There is a sports-focused page called Team India Forever on Facebook, which updates followers with news related to cricket players. This page has 631,000 followers and 622,000 likes. On July 11, the page posted a photo of Virat Kohli with an Audi car, accompanied by the caption, "King Virat Kohli bought a new car, won't you congratulate him now?" This caption suggests that Virat Kohli has recently purchased an Audi car. Many people are congratulating him, believing the claim to be true, and the photo is being widely shared.
India TV investigated
India TV's fact-check team investigated the claim made by the Team India Forever Facebook page about Virat Kohli buying a new car. By searching related keywords on Google, we found several news articles revealing that the photo of Virat Kohli with the Audi car dates back to April 11, 2018. This photo is from the launch event of the Audi RS 5 Coupe.
Additionally, Virat Kohli had also posted this photo on his X account six years ago, on April 11, 2018, with the caption, "Bringing motorsport to a road near you, this masterpiece of a machine; The Audi RS 5 Coupe." This confirms that the car seen with Virat Kohli is from the time of the car's launch, not a recent purchase.
What did the fact-check reveal?
India TV's fact-check team investigated the claim and found that the photo of cricketer Virat Kohli with the Audi RS 5 Coupe being shared on Facebook is misleading. Virat Kohli took this photo during the car's launch event on April 11, 2018, and had praised the car at that time. Therefore, the claim that Virat Kohli has recently purchased a new Audi car is incorrect and unrelated to this photo.
