Edited Photo Shared to Falsely Accuse Travis Head of Cheating During CWC Finals

The photo is edited. Travis Head dove to catch the ball before it hit the ground, effectively dismissing Sharma.

A photograph of Australian cricketer Travis Head, taken during the final match of the 2023 ICC Men's Cricket World Cup on 19 November, which shows him catching a ball has gone viral on social media.

The claim: The photo is being shared to claim that the photo shows Head cheating during the match and that he had not caught the ball, which resulted in Indian team captain Rohit Sharma being dismissed.

• Those sharing the photo have claimed that the ball had already touched the ground before Head caught it and that Sharma was not out when he was dismissed.

At the time of writing this report, this post had over 19,500 likes and was shared by more than 2,600 users.

(Archives of more claims can be seen here and here.)

Is it true?: No, the photograph in the viral claim has been edited.

• The original photo shows that Head dove to catch the ball before it hit the ground, taking Sharma's wicket.

How did we find out?: We conducted a simple keyword search to look for Head's catch during Sharma's batting.

• This led us to the International Cricket Council's (ICC) website, which had a video of Rohit Sharma's wicket.

• In this clip, we saw that Head had caught the ball before it touched the ground and did not pick it up off the ground as claimed.

• We also reviewed the match's replay on Disney+ Hotstar, showing Head's catch.

• A video of Sharma's wicket was also shared by the ICC and Australian cricket team's verified Instagram accounts.

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A post shared by ICC (@icc)

• We also came across a photo of Head's catch on Getty Images, a stock image website. It clearly showed the ball in his hand.

• A comparison between the two visuals shows that the photo in the claim has been altered.

• Another photograph by the Associated Press showed a different angle of the incident, which also showed Head catching the ball.

• This visual was also seen on ESPN UK's website, as well as a report by Outlook India.

Conclusion: An edited photo showing Australian cricketer Travis Head catching the ball and dismissing Rohit Sharma is being shared to falsely accuse Head of cheating during the final match between India and Australia in the 2023 ICC Men's Cricket World Cup.

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