In a recent social media incident, a parody Twitter handle impersonating Indian cricketer Mohammed Siraj circulated a false post claiming that Siraj dedicated India's victory over Pakistan in the ICC ODI World Cup 2023 to Israel. The ICC Men's Cricket World Cup 2023 match on October 14, 2023, witnessed India's triumph over Pakistan by seven wickets in a highly anticipated encounter held in Ahmedabad. During the first innings, Siraj played a crucial role by taking two important wickets, including that of Pakistani captain Babar Azam.
The X handle in question, identified as 'Mohammad Siraj' (@iamMohdSiiraj), posted a tweet sarcastically mentioning Pakistani batsman Muhammad Rizwan, who dedicated his century against Sri Lanka on October 11, 2023, to the people of Gaza. This post, from a parody account, claimed that India's victory was dedicated to the people of Israel.
India TV did a fact check
However, an investigation into this social media incident reveals the misinformation. India TV Fact Check team confirmed that Mohammed Siraj did not post any such message dedicating India's victory over Pakistan to Israel. The post that has gone viral was indeed from a parody X handle impersonating Siraj. A clear indication of its parody nature is visible in the handle's profile bio. Furthermore, the parody account incorrectly spells Siraj's first name as 'Mohammad' instead of 'Mohammed'.
After India's victory against Pakistan, Mohammed Siraj took to his official Twitter account '@mdsirajofficial' and posted a message with the caption, "3 W We continue the work." This message referred to India's victorious streak in the ICC ODI World Cup 2023, where they won their first three matches against Australia, Afghanistan, and Pakistan.
To set the record straight, Mohammed Siraj did not make any posts related to the Israel-Hamas conflict, nor did he dedicate the match to the "people of Israel," as falsely claimed on social media. This incident underscores the importance of verifying information from credible sources and not falling for content from impersonation accounts.
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