A video purportedly showing Congress MP Shashi Tharoor speaking to media persons is being widely circulated on social media. In it, Tharoor is seen praising Pakistan for "good diplomacy" and "completely pinning down" the Indian cricket board.
In the 24-second clip, Tharoor says: "I think how Pakistan played is indeed brilliant. I don't know what they would do on the field, but what they did diplomatically is absolute brilliance. Indian cricket board was completely pinned. Hands down. This serves as a lesson that good diplomacy can make a weak nation appear as a Goliath. Pakistan has done it. I would want to appreciate them for it. It's unthinkable."
https://vimeo.com/1164600320?share=copy&fl=sv&fe=ci
On February 1 Pakistan had announced that it would not take the field against India in their scheduled Group A fixture on February 15, 2026, of the ICC Men's T20 World Cup, which is being jointly hosted by India and Sri Lanka. The Pakistan government stated that while they would continue to participate in the rest of the tournament, they intended to boycott the highly anticipated match against India, citing claims of unfair treatment. The International Cricket Council (ICC) responded strongly to this threat of a boycott, emphasizing that skipping a match while remaining in the tournament undermines the spirit of global sports. Following rounds of deliberations, on February 9, Pakistan decided to abandon its plan for a boycott.
The video is being shared in this context.
Pakistani X user Zahid Gishkori shared the purported video with a caption that suggested Tharoor had commended Pakistan for its "bold stand" and "brilliant diplomacy". Gishkori describes himself as an "Editor Investigation at HumNewsPakistan".
The post has been viewed over 700,000 times.
Another account, The Whistle Blower (@InsiderWB), shared the same video on February 11, alleging that Shashi Tharoor made a "startling revelation".
This post has currently been deleted.
Multiple social media users since then have circulated this clip with similar assertions and presented:
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Fact Check
To begin with, there are no news reports of the Thiruvananthapuram MP showering accolades on Pakistan. The booms of three news agencies are visible in the clip -- PTI, ANI and IANS. None of them shared any such content.
A reverse image search led us to the original video clip of Shashi Tharoor's interaction with the media from February 10, 2026. In that byte, delivered in Hindi, the Congress MP stated that he did not believe in conflating politics with sport.
The two videos are identical frame to frame.
In the actual footage, Tharoor states, "I am a politician, but I don't like to involve politics in cricket or sports. I think sports is a different field, a different game. Let the players play, and let the politicians engage in their politics elsewhere. Let the diplomats handle their diplomacy, while the cricketers focus on the game. I'm glad that cricket will move forward with this match, regardless of the outcome. We will all support our national team, but this match must take place. We should respect the integrity of the sporting team."
At no point in the original video does Tharoor make the remarks that the viral video shows him as making.
It is also noteworthy that Tharoor's voice and intonation in the viral video do not match Tharoor's usual speaking style.
We also noted that Tharoor himself shared a post on X dismissing the video as AI-generated. "Neither my language, nor my voice," he wrote while re-sharing Zahid Gishkori's post.
To sum up, the video showing Shashi Tharoor lauding Pakistan's diplomacy is AI generated. It is a deepfake.
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