Fact-Check: No, the Pitch Wasn't Dried With Hairdryers & Irons During IPL Final

The photos date back to January 2020, when India played against Sri Lanka during the T20 International tournament.

A set of photos showing a cricket pitch being dried using hairdryers and electric irons is being shared on social media platforms.

• The claim comes after the final match of the 2023 Indian Premier League (IPL), between Gujarat Titans (GT) and Chennai Super Kings (CSK) was interrupted due to rains in Ahmedabad.

• CSK won their fifth title against the defending champions GT, defeating them by five wickets on 29 May.

What are users claiming?: The photos are being shared to claim that they show visuals from the 2023 IPL finals at Ahmedabad's Narendra Modi stadium, with users taking a dig at the Board of Control for Cricket in India's (BCCI) for their management.

(Archives of more claims on social media can be seen here, here and here.)

But...?: The photos date back to 2020 and show groundpersons drying the pitch at the Barsapara Cricket Stadium in Guwahati, Assam.

• A T20 International match between India and Sri Lanka on 5 January 2020 was called off due to unseasonal rains and a wet pitch.

How did we find out?: We ran a reverse image search on the viral photo, which led us to an article with the same photos by Outlook published on 6 January 2020.

The Quint had also reported on the incident and carried the same photos.

• The first T20 International cricket match between India and Sri Lanka on 5 January 202 was abandoned due to wet patches on the pitch.

• Held at Guwahati's Barsapara cricket stadium in Assam, the match was cancelled after umpires held several inspections of the pitch, as rain water had seeped through covers on the pitch.

• Network18's social media platform CRUX also made a video about the cancelled match and visuals of groundskeepers drying the pitch with hairdryers can be seen 50 seconds into the video.

Conclusion: Photographs from January 2020, showing groundskeepers drying a wet pitch with irons and hairdryers, are being linked to the 2023 IPL finals between CSK and GT in Ahmedabad.

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