Authors
Kushel HM is a mechanical engineer-turned-journalist, who loves all things football, tennis and films. He was with the news desk at the Hindustan Times, Mumbai, before joining Newschecker.
Pankaj Menon is a fact-checker based out of Delhi who enjoys ‘digital sleuthing’ and calling out misinformation. He has completed his MA in International Relations from Madras University and has worked with organisations like NDTV, Times Now and Deccan Chronicle online in the past.
Claim
Crowd of 1.5 lakh people chants the Hanuman Chalisa during the ICC men’s World Cup final between India and Australia at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad.
Fact
Video found to be doctored. The original video shows Darshan Rawal performing at the final, over which Hanuman Chalisa was overlaid.
Several social media users are sharing a video, purportedly showing around 1.5 lakh people chanting the Hanuman Chalisa during the ICC men’s World Cup final between India and Australia, which was held at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on November 19, 2023. Australia beat India by 6 wickets on Sunday to lift their 6th ODI World Cup trophy.
The archived versions of the tweets can be seen here and here.
Fact check
Newschecker first ran a keyword search for “Hanuman chalisa World Cup final”, which led us to the same video shared on November 18, 2023, contradicting the claim that the chanting happened during the final the next day.
A reverse image of key frames of the video led us to this Youtube short, dated October 16, 2023, stating that singer Darshan Raval performed at the Narendra Modi stadium, along with the hashtag #pakvsind.
We can clearly hear that the audio in this video is different from the one in the viral clip, indicating that it was altered. We learnt that singers Sukhwinder Singh, Shankar Mahadevan, Arijit Singh, Sunidhi Chauhan, Neha Kakkar and Darshan Raval had performed at the pre-match show before the India-Pakistan World Cup clash in the stadium on October 14.
A further search led us to this Youtube video, dated June 3, 2023, which has the same audio as heard in the viral clip, confirming that it had been edited.
Newschecker also got in contact with one Srinidhi DS, a spectator at the final, who said, “During the match, Jai Shree Ram, Vande Mataram, chants, among others, were heard, and Hanuman Chalisa was recited after the end of the first innings. But it was not as loud as it is being shown, and not as many people joined in the chorus as one sees in the viral video.”
Also Read: Old Video Of Mosque Bombing Goes Viral Amid Israel-Hamas Conflict
Conclusion
The video claiming that a crowd of 1.5 lakh people chanted Hanuman Chalisa during the ICC men’s World Cup final between India and Australia at the Narendra Modi stadium is edited
Result: Altered video
Sources
Youtube video, October 16, 2023
Youtube video, June 3, 2023
(With inputs from Ishwarachandra BG)
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Authors
Kushel HM is a mechanical engineer-turned-journalist, who loves all things football, tennis and films. He was with the news desk at the Hindustan Times, Mumbai, before joining Newschecker.
Pankaj Menon is a fact-checker based out of Delhi who enjoys ‘digital sleuthing’ and calling out misinformation. He has completed his MA in International Relations from Madras University and has worked with organisations like NDTV, Times Now and Deccan Chronicle online in the past.
