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PeakMetrics / Fact Checks

Sports fact checks

Explore claims publishers have checked about sports. Read their original ratings and follow the evidence.

1,766 published reviews in this topic

FACTLYSports

A photo depicting Glenn Maxwell touching Sachin Tendulkar’s feet after his double century against Afghanistan

Publisher’s rating: FALSE

The claim concerns a photo circulated as showing Glenn Maxwell touching Sachin Tendulkar’s feet after Maxwell’s double century against Afghanistan on 7 November 2023. FACTLY reports that the image is edited: its investigation identified an original image showing Tendulkar shaking hands with an Afghan cricketer, with Maxwell absent. [S1: “The photo in question is edited, and the original image shows Tendulkar shaking hands with an Afghan cricketer.”] [S1: “In the original photo, Tendulkar is seen shaking hands with an Afghan player, and Maxwell is nowhere in the picture.”] FACTLY describes searching relevant keywords and finding ICC posts containing video of Tendulkar meeting Afghan cricket players. It says Tendulkar appeared in a similar shirt to the person in the viral photo, and that a further search for images of this meeting led to the original image. This comparison supports the review’s conclusion that the circulated photo altered the Afghan-player image rather than documenting the alleged encounter with Maxwell. [S1: “We conducted an internet search using relevant keywords to ascertain the viral photo’s authenticity.”] [S1: “This search led us to a set of posts (here and here) by the International Cricket Council (ICC) that included a video of Sachin Tendulkar meeting with Afghan cricket players, where he is seen in a similar shirt as in the viral photo.”] [S1: “A subsequent search for more images of Tendulkar’s meeting with the Afghan cricket team led us to the original image that was manipulated to create the viral photo.”] The review also reports finding no photographic or news evidence that Tendulkar met Maxwell on the field after the innings. Tendulkar’s post praising Maxwell’s performance is not evidence of such a meeting: FACTLY says it contains no mention or evidence of one. [S1: “But in regard to the viral claim, we found no photographic or news evidence of Tendulkar meeting with Glenn Maxwell on the cricket field following his double century.”] [S1: “Further investigation revealed a tweet by Tendulkar lauding Maxwell’s performance as the ‘best ODI knock’ he had ever seen but there is mention or evidence of the alleged meeting.”]

Factcrescendo Sri LankaSports

Glenn Maxwell ,The First Australian Player To Score A Double Century In ODI Cricket!!

Publisher’s rating: Misleading

The review examined social-media posts claiming Glenn Maxwell was the first Australian player to score a double century—200 runs or more—in an ODI. It distinguishes the broad claim from the narrower claim about Australian men. Maxwell scored an unbeaten 201 against Afghanistan in the 2023 Cricket World Cup, making him the first Australian male player to reach the milestone in ODIs. The claim leaves out an earlier Australian achievement: Belinda Clark scored an unbeaten 229 against Denmark in the 1997 Women’s World Cup. Because Clark was an Australian player and her innings came before Maxwell’s, Maxwell was not the first Australian player overall to score an ODI double century. The distinction is that his record was the first by an Australian male player. The review also notes that some early reports after Maxwell’s innings did not mention Clark’s performance. It quotes Clark welcoming the comparison as an opportunity to recognize women’s sport, while emphasizing that sporting performances should be respected regardless of gender. That context reinforces why specifying “male” matters: omitting it makes the broader claim inaccurate.

FACTLYSports

Gautam Gambhir made a comment comparing Virat Kohli and Glen Maxwell’s cricketing strategies during his commentary stint

Publisher’s rating: FALSE

The claim concerns a specific comment allegedly made by Gautam Gambhir during commentary on Glen Maxwell’s double century in the Cricket World Cup. The circulated quote said that Virat Kohli would have taken singles at 195, whereas Maxwell chose to hit a six. The review investigated whether Gambhir had actually made that comparison. The review says its internet keyword search led it to Gambhir’s X account. There, Gambhir rejected the attribution, writing, “What bullsh*t! When I say something, I say it openly,” and asked for the source of the quote or an apology. The review also reports that News 18, identified as the account that originally posted the statement, apologized on X after Gambhir’s response. Gambhir then welcomed the apology and criticized verified accounts for spreading false information for monetary gains. On the evidence described in the review, the attributed comment was not authentic: Gambhir denied making it, and News 18 apologized. The excerpt does not provide the original post, the wording of News 18’s apology, or further details of the commentary, so those details cannot be independently assessed from the supplied text.