Fact Check: Rohit Sharma didn’t give man of the match cheque to ground staff

Following India’s victory against Pakistan in the Super Four round of Asia Cup 2023, a photo of the Indian skipper Rohit Sharma with the ground staff began making the rounds on social media. This photo captured Sharma handing his man of the match cheque to the ground staff.

“Rohit handed the man of the match award to the ground’s staff. My captain,” read one such tweet containing the photo.

“Rohit Sharma gave his winner of the match award money to all the ground staff. How can someone hate this man,” wrote another Twitter user. The archived version of such a post can be seen here.

India Today Fact Check found that the viral image was digitally altered. Additionally, there was no official declaration from the Indian side about any award giveaway.

Our Probe

Upon conducting a reverse image search on the viral post, we found multiple news reports highlighting the crucial role played by the groundsmen in ensuring an outcome in the India-Pakistan clash. This rain-affected match went into the reserve day as the Men in Blue registered a mammoth 228-run win in Colombo’s R Premadas stadium.

Although these reports featured the same image that circulated in the viral post, it’s worth noting that none of them depicted the groundsmen holding a replica of the man of the match award cheque in their hands. A screengrab from HotStar, the official broadcaster of the Asia Cup 2023, did feature it as well, indicating that the replica man of the match award cheque was digitally added.

It’s also noteworthy that Rohit Sharma was not the man of the match in this contest. It was former Indian Captain Virat Kohli.

Had Indian Captain Rohit Sharma indeed presented the award to the groundsmen, it would likely have gained media attention. However, we found no news reports about such a gesture.

However, both Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli acknowledged and lauded the tireless efforts of the groundsmen during the post-match presentation. “We are happy to get some game time. A lot of guys did not have game time and that was great support from the groundsman as well.

From the word go, they were right on the money. I know how difficult it was to come and do the job and do it the next day. We would like to thank them as a team,” said Sharma.

“A loud shout out to all the groundsmen for the work they have put in to make this game possible. They did a fantastic job,” said Kohli while accepting his player of the match award.