A 20-second split screen video purportedly showing Virat Kohli’s match-winning shot for India against Pakistan during their Champions Trophy clash in Dubai on February 23, 2025 (Sunday) has gone viral across social media platforms. The users claimed that the shot, which also ensured Kohli’s 82nd international century, resulted in an embarrassing moment for a Pakistani fielder when his trousers slipped down while diving to save the boundary, as shown in the bottom half of the viral video.
The archived version of the post can be seen here. We received this video on our Whatsapp tipline (9999499044), too, with users requesting us to fact-check it.
Fact Check
Newschecker noticed that the Pakistani fielders in the bottom half of the viral video were donning a darker jersey to the one seen in the top section of the clip, indicating that they are from different matches.
The ICC posted a video of Kohli’s match-winning shot on Facebook on February 23, 2025, where clearly there was no such fielding attempt as seen in the viral video. A similar video from OTT platform JioHotstar can be seen here.
Screengrab of the moment when Kohli’s shot touched the boundary rope, where no fielder can be seen diving to stop the ball.
We next ran a reverse image search of keyframes of the video, which led us to an extended version of the whole sequence, including a clearer version of the viral camera angle, uploaded on November 18, 2024, by cricket.com.au’s X account, stating that it happened during an Australia vs Pakistan match.
A relevant keyword search led us to this Times of India report, dated November 19, 2024, stating that the incident occurred during the third T20I between Australia and Pakistan at Hobart on November 18, 2024. “Pakistan pacer Jahandad Khan, who made his debut, found himself at the centre of a comical moment when he experienced an unexpected wardrobe malfunction while chasing down a boundary. Australian batter Jake Fraser-McGurk attempted a shot into the covers but ended up squirting it through third man off a thick outside edge. Jahandad sprinted to stop a firmly struck shot from crossing the ropes, his dacks betrayed him, slipping down at the most inopportune moment,” read the report, sharing a video. Similar reports can be seen here and here, confirming that the viral video is not from the India vs Pakistan match.
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Conclusion
Old video of a Pakistani player’s trousers slipping down while fielding falsely claimed as an incident that happened during the Champions Trophy clash against India in Dubai.
