On Monday (30th October), Ratan Tata took to X (formerly Twitter) to clarify that he has not monetarily rewarded any cricket player for being fined by the International Cricket Council (ICC).
He tweeted, “I have made no suggestions to the ICC or any cricket faculty about any cricket member regarding a fine or reward to any players. I have no connection to cricket whatsoever.”
“Please do not believe WhatsApp forwards and videos of such nature unless they come from my official platforms,” the 85-year-old industrialist said.
The development comes days after social media was rife with misinformation about Afghan cricketer Rashid Khan being fined to the tune of ₹55 lakhs by the ICC for waving the Indian flag.
It was falsely claimed that Ratan Tata rewarded Khan with ₹10 crores for his act, which helped him pay off the fine of ₹55 lakhs. In reality, ICC has not imposed any such penalty on the Afghan cricket player.
A YouTube channel by the name of ‘Global Cricket’ peddled the fake news on 25th October this year, two days after Afghanistan defeated Pakistan by 8 wickets during the ongoing 2023 World Cup.
The misinformation then made it to X (formerly Twitter), where several handles amplified the fake story about Rashid Khan being fined and Ratan Tata coming to his rescue