Fact Check: Edited picture of Hedley Verity shared as that of Swami Vivekanand playing cricket

New Delhi (Vishvas News): An image of a person playing cricket, bowling at a stadium is being widely shared on various social media platforms. It is being claimed that it was sometime in the mid 1880s during a match at Eden Gardens that Narendranath Datta took seven wickets. It is being claimed that he did not pursue cricket but instead went on to become a monk, by the name Swami Vivekanand. Vishvas News conducted a fact check of the same and found out that the image is morphed and that the person in the picture is not Swami Vivekanand.

Claim:
Facebook user Mrk Kumaran posted the viral picture on Facebook on 1st December.
It was written on the picture: It was sometime in the mid 1880s. Eden Gardens was around 20 years old, and hosting a match between Calcutta Cricket Club (CCC), the then occupants of the ground, and Town Club. Representing the latter, one Narendranath Datta took seven wickets. He did not pursue cricket, but went on to become a global figure known by another name: Swami Vivekanand.

Check the post and the archive version here.

Investigation:

Vishvas News started the fact check with a simple Google Reverse Image Search. We found the original image on the website of Getty Images.

The description of the picture said: Yorkshire cricketer Hedley Verity (1905 – 1943) in action, circa 1940. (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

A simple keyword search further led us to the website of ESPN Cric Info. Here we found more pictures from the day and especially of Hedley Verity.

Vishvas News in the last step of investigation contacted Satchidanand Shevde, an author and columnist who has speeches on Swami Vivekanand to his credit.
He said, “There is no information about Swami Vivekanand playing cricket. Even if he did, he would be 16-years-old in 1880. This however, is not a picture of Swami Vivekanand. This is a picture of Hedley Verity. The viral picture is edited.”

In the last step of investigation, Vishvas News did a social background check of Mrk Kumaran who shared the viral image. He is a resident of Adoor.