Fact Check: Young Virat Kohli did not receive prize from UK PM Rishi Sunak
The claim has been shared in Telugu language also on Facebook with a caption “స్టార్ క్రికెటర్ విరాట్ కొహ్లీ చిన్నతనంలో అవార్డు ప్రదాన్మ చేసిన కాబోయే బ్రిటిష్ ప్రధాని రుషి సౌనక్.”
An image of very young Virat Kohli receiving a prize during an award ceremony is being shared virally with a claim that the person giving the prize to Kohli is UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak. The image is in circulation with the caption "Rishi Sunak with Virat Kohli".
The claim has been shared in Telugu language also on Facebook with a caption "స్టార్ క్రికెటర్ విరాట్ కొహ్లీ చిన్నతనంలో అవార్డు ప్రదాన్మ చేసిన కాబోయే బ్రిటిష్ ప్రధాని రుషి సౌనక్."
Fact check:
The image shows Virat Kohli with former cricketer Ashish Nehra and not UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak. The claim is FALSE.
When we searched using Google reverse image search, we found that the image was shared by NDTV in 2017, with the caption 'Ashish Nehra and Virat Kohli's old pic makes Twitter nostalgic.'
In an article published in India.com in 2016, in an interview, Ashish Nehra said that after the 2003 World Cup, Raj Kumar Sharma, Kohli's coach invited him to the academy where this picture was taken.
Here is the interview with Ashish Nehra where he talks about the viral image.
In a YouTube video uploaded by The Quint, Ashish Nehra admits that the image is more popular because of Virat Kohli, not him.
Former Indian Captain Mohammed Azharuddin was trolled by Twitter users for issuing a clarification tweet about the viral image.
Therefore, the person giving away the prize to young Virat Kohli is former cricketer Ashish Nehra and not British PM Rishi Sunak. The claim is FALSE.