The ‘sexting controversy’ that allegedly involved Pakistani cricketer Babar Azam has proved to be nothing more than a joke by a parody Twitter account which several Indian media outlets reported as a story. Several clips and texts posted by an Instagram user supposedly of Babar Azam were shared on Twitter by a handle named @niiravmodi with a false claim that the cricketer was ‘sexting’ his teammate’s partner. Soon, Azam began to be lambasted on news and social media on both sides of the border.
The false controversy sent the internet into a frenzy.
“I hope Allah is watching all this,” joked the user named ‘Dr Nimo Yadav’ in a now deleted tweet. The user’s Twitter bio clearly states that it is a parody account. But the media caught on to it and widely reported it.
And through it all, Azam maintained a stoic silence.
No mention of satire
The furore over the false controversy, which also dragged Azam’s captaincy into discussion on social media, attracted significant public attention for the Twitter user.
“A single tweet from Dr Nimo Yadav was enough to expose how our media works & executes. Too good man @niiravmodi,” tweeted a user.
The ‘Nimo’ handle is now criticising Indian media outlets for reporting stories based on his fake claim and revelling in his 15 minutes of fame. As the user fended off criticism for dragging the Pakistani cricketer into an unnecessary controversy, hashtags #WeStandWithBabarAzam and #StayStrongBabarAzam began trending on Twitter.
“I don’t go to anyone here to RT [retweet] or like my tweet in DM,” he tweeted, adding that it’s not his “job Media is picking what news [sic]”.
As for Azam, he posted a photo of himself on Instagram with the caption: “Doesn’t take too much to be happy.”
(Edited by Humra Laeeq)