In the ICC Champions Trophy 2025, India defeated Pakistan by six wickets in their Group A match at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium on 23 February 2025. Amidst this, a viral video on social media (here, here, and here) allegedly shows spectators jeering at Pakistani player Babar Azam while he was fielding near the boundary, suggesting he was humiliated during the match. Let’s verify the claim made in the post through this article.
Claim: Video shows Spectators jeering at Babar Azam near the boundary during the 23 February 2025 match against India during the 2025 ICC Champions Trophy
Fact: The viral video is not from the India vs Pakistan match on 23 February 2025 at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium during the 2025 ICC Champions Trophy. It was recorded at the Sydney Cricket Ground during the second T20I between Australia and Pakistan on 16 November 2024. Multiple media reports confirm that spectators jeered at Babar Azam in Sydney during the match against Australia. Hence, the claim made in the post is FALSE.
Upon closely reviewing the viral video, we found “Sydney Cricket Ground” written at the top of the big screen. This confirms that the video is not from the India vs Pakistan match, which took place at Dubai International Cricket Stadium.
We then performed a reverse image search of keyframes from the viral video, which led us to an X post dated 17 November 2024 (archived) featuring the same video. The post’s caption indicated that Pakistani fans were mocking Babar Azam at the Sydney Cricket Ground, Australia.
In November 2024, Pakistan played a three-match ODI and T20I series in Australia. They secured a 2-1 victory in the ODI series but faced a 3-0 defeat in the T20Is. The viral video is from the second T20 match held at Sydney Cricket Ground on 16 November 2024.
We also noticed that the Pakistan cricket team’s jersey in the viral video differs from the one used in the 2025 ICC Champions Trophy. A comparison can be seen below.
Additionally, we found multiple media reports (here, here, and here) addressing the same incident. These reports stated that spectators jeered at Babar Azam at Sydney Cricket Ground on 16 November 2024 during the second T20I between Australia and Pakistan.
To sum up, this viral video of spectators jeering Babar Azam is from the second T20I between Australia and Pakistan on 16 November 2024 in Sydney, not the India-Pakistan match on 23 February 2025.
