Innocent Aussie sporting great Ricky Ponting is caught up in social media storm over ‘cricket mafia’ slur against India after their ODI World Cup loss
- Ricky Ponting is said to have declared India’s ‘cricket mafia’
- Tweet suggested Australia’s World Cup victory was one of ‘justice’
- Ponting never expressed the blunt opinion in his commentary
A fake tweet has made Australian cricket great Ricky Ponting public enemy number one in India, with their fans still in shock after completely losing the World Cup final on home soil.
The tweet, posted to X on November 20 According to a verified account with over 2,800 followers, the decorated former skipper claimed to have lashed out at the powerful Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), calling it ‘cricket mafia’.
‘Ricky Ponting on Fox Cricket: ‘This is a victory for justice against the cricket mafia’, the scathing message read.
‘Your money and power still doesn’t mean you win World Cups. How embarrassing.’
The message also included the view that Ponting ‘owned India and BCCI’ thanks to his blunt comments, with the tweet since being viewed over a million times with over 700 replies.
The problem is that Ponting didn’t say those words.
A fake tweet circulating on
The tweet was uploaded to X during the World Cup final and has since been viewed more than a million times, but Ponting did not utter the blunt words
Ponting has praised Pat Cummins (pictured, centre) for his courageous leadership
What he actually said was telling: in commentary for Sky Sports, Ponting singled out Pat Cummins for praise and praised his leadership after the Aussies had bowled out the shell-shocked hosts for just 240 from their 50 overs.
The underdogs then overcame a shaky start to win by six wickets, with Travis Head’s century proving crucial.
‘I think [the captaincy] honestly it was almost flawless,” Ponting said.
“I mean, any captain who decides to bowl first at the toss, that’s a brave, brave move.
‘Australia felt that if they could bowl well early on that dry wicket and restrict India, batting would become easier – but we all know that if you get that call wrong and you lose the game, that’s a huge decision is for a relatively major decision. young captain.
“I thought his leadership continued to improve throughout the tournament.
“His bowling has also improved, as has the way he used his bowlers and some of his field placements [Virat] Kohli and KL Rahul, [just] excellent.
‘Once again an Australian team has found a way to get it done in a World Cup final.’