Former Zimbabwe cricketer Heath Streak passed away on Sunday, 3 September, after a prolonged struggle with cancer, his wife Nadine Streak confirmed.
Earlier in August, X (formerly Twitter) was buzzing with news about Streak's 'demise' after his former teammate Henry Olonga posted about his death.
An archive can be seen here.
(Source: Facebook/Screenshot)
(Archives of similar claims can be seen here and here.)
Streak dismissed the claims: However, it was found to be false later and The Quint's senior sports correspondent Shuvaditya Bose spoke to Streak himself, who dismissed the rumours of his death.
"I am very much alive. The reports of my death are stupid and malicious. I don't know who started it and how it spread, but I am doing alright," Streak added.
How did the claim go viral?:
It was his former teammate Henry Olonga who broke the news about Streak's death on X and has now deleted his post.
"Sad news coming through that Heath Streak has crossed to the other side. RIP @ZimCricketv legend. The greatest all rounder we produced. It was a pleasure playing with you. See you on the other side when my bowling spell comes to an end...," Olonga posted on X.
There are reports about Streak suffering from cancer and is receiving treatment for the same.
An archive of the post can be found here.
(Source: X/Screenshot)
But as soon as the rumours of Streak's death started circulating on the internet, Olonga dismissed the rumours and said.
He shared a screenshot of his latest conversation with Streak and posted that he is 'very much alive'.
The screenshot showed Streak's reply saying, "Very much alive..pse revert this runout IMMEDIATELY buddy (sic)."
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