Old & Unrelated Images Viral as ‘Virat-Anushka’s Newborn Baby’

A set of images is being shared on the internet with a claim that they show Virat Kohli and Anushka Sharma’s newborn baby.

(Photo: Altered by The Quint)

A set of viral images on the internet are being shared with a claim that they show the newborn baby of actor Anushka Sharma and Indian cricket captain, Virat Kohli. However, we found that all of these images in circulation are unrelated and have been lifted off the internet.

CLAIM

After the couple announced the birth of their child on 11 January, the internet has been flooded with baby images claiming that they show Virat and Anushka’s newborn.

An archived version of the post can be accessed here.(Source: Facebook/Screenshot)

An archived version of the post can be accessed here.(Source: Facebook/Screenshot)

An archived version of this tweet can be accessed here.(Source: Twitter/Screenshot)

An archived version of this tweet can be accessed here.(Source: Twitter/Screenshot)

WHAT WE FOUND

We checked various images being shared with the aforementioned false claim and found that they have been in existence way before Virat and Anushka’s baby was born.

IMAGE 1

(Source: Facebook)

We ran a reverse image search on the viral image and found that it is a stock photo upload by one Rehan Qureshi on Shutterstock.

(Source: Shutterstock/Screenshot)

IMAGE 2 & 3

(Source: Twitter/Screenshot)

We found that that the image on the left has been photoshopped to superimpose Anushka and Virat’s faces on the faces of Karisma Kapoor and her ex-husband Sanjay Kapur. A reverse search directed us to articles by several Bollywood websites which carried the original image.

(Source: India Pulse/Screenshot)

Further, we found that image on right has been shared previously on 18 November 2020 and 1 January 2021 by a YouTube handle with photoshopped images of Anushka Sharma and Kareena Kapoor.

(Source: YouTube/Screenshot)

IMAGE 4

(Source: Facebook/Screenshot)

A reverse image search on this viral image led us to a news report by NDTV dated 3 August 2017 which credited the image to iStock photos.

(Source: NDTV/Screenshot)

IMAGE 5

(Source: Facebook/Screenshot)

Even this image turned out to be old. We ran a reverse image search and found the image in an article dated October 2020 on a website called Deseret News.

(Source: Deseret News/Screenshot)

Clearly, multiple old and unrelated images are being shared on the internet as that of Virat and Anushka’s baby.

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