A video of Indian captain Suryakumar Yadav is circulating on social media with claims that during a press conference, he said that players from a country known for terrorism would behave like terrorists, referring to Sahibzada Farhan's "gun-like" celebration. However, when we fact-checked the claim, it turned out to be false.
India defeated Pakistan by six wickets in the Super 4 match of the Asia Cup. During the match, Pakistani cricketer Sahibzada Farhan made a gesture resembling firing a gun after scoring 50 runs.
What is going viral?
Since the match, a post has been circulating on social media, claiming that during a press conference, when a journalist asked Suryakumar Yadav about Farhan's gesture, he replied that players from a country known for terrorism would behave like terrorists.
On September 8, 2025, a user shared a viral image on the social media platform Facebook, writing: "Question to Suryakumar Yadav in the press conference: Journalist: 'What are your thoughts on Sahibzada Farhan's strange celebration?' SKY: 'It's pointless to expect civility from citizens of a country whose identity is terrorism. Players from the land of terrorism will behave like terrorists'."
Investigation
To verify the viral claim, we searched with relevant keywords, but no credible media reports were found. Further, we searched the viral image using Google Reverse Image Search and we found the original video on the Asian Cricket Council's YouTube channel, uploaded on September 22, 2025.
We watched the entire video, but Suryakumar Yadav did not make the statement claimed in the viral post. However, he did say in a press conference after defeating Pakistan that people should stop asking about the rivalry. "If two teams play 15-20 matches and the scoreline is 7-7 or 8-7, then you call it a rivalry. If the scoreline is 10-1 or 13-0, I don't know the exact statistic, but then it's not a rivalry anymore."
What came out in fact-check?
The fact check confirmed that cricketer Suryakumar Yadav did not say anything like this. The statement being circulated in his name is completely false. During the investigation, we watched the entire video of the press conference after the India-Pakistan match played on September 21. In the video, cricketer Suryakumar Yadav did not make any such comment about Pakistani players. People are advised to be cautious of any such claims.
(With PTI inputs)
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