Fact Check: Random Image Of A Girl Going Viral As Women’s Cricketer Rashi Kanojia

New Delhi Vishvas News – Days after Agra’s Rashi Kanojia was selected to the Indian Women’s squad for the ongoing Bangladesh tour, a picture was widely circulated on the social media with wishes for the cricketer. However, the viral picture is not of Kanojia. Some users have been mistaken that the girl in the viral picture is Rashi Kanojia. Vishvas News conducted a fact-check on the viral post and determined that the photograph being used is not of Rashi Kanojia. The cricketer herself confirmed this and shared her authentic picture with Vishvas News.

What’s Going Viral

On July 5, Facebook user Chaudhary Upendra Singh posted a picture and congratulated “Agra’s daughter” Rashi Kanojia on being selected for the Indian women’s cricket team. Assuming the picture used in the post to be genuine, other users have also shared the image and made it viral. You can view the archived version of the post here.

Investigation

Vishvas News initiated an investigation into the viral picture falsely attributed to Rashi Kanojia. Through a Google reverse image search, the picture was found on a Facebook page named ‘Neha Kumari Dosti Karoge’, where pictures of different girls and women have been misused. The viral picture claiming to be of Kanojia was uploaded on February 3, 2022. The picture was found on several other Facebook accounts and pages.

Vishvas News utilised the Google Open Search tool and found news related to Rashi Kanojia’s selection on various news websites. According to an article published on July 3, 2023, by Jagran.com, Rashi Kanojia was selected for the Indian women’s cricket team’s Bangladesh tour. She had participated in the team’s camp at the National Cricket Academy in Bengaluru from June 13. The article highlighted her achievements in domestic women’s cricket. She was a member of the winning Supernova team in the Mini IPL and led Uttar Pradesh’s under-23 team. Rashi had recently joined Western Railway, Mumbai. She is a member of the senior team of Uttar Pradesh.

Vishvas News contacted Rashi Kanojia as part of their investigation and shared the viral post with her. She confirmed that the girl in the picture was not her. Rashi also provided her picture to Vishvas News.

While Vishvas News cannot independently confirm the identity of the girl in the viral picture, we are certain that it is not Rashi Kanojia.