Wedding picture of Sania Mirza with Indian bowler Mohammed Shami

Rating Justification

The iVerify Pakistan team has reviewed this content and determined that it is false.

To reach this conclusion, the iVerify Pakistan team investigated the picture through a reverse image search and searched for any corroboration of a wedding between former Indian tennis player Sania Mirza and Indian bowler Mohammed Shami.

Multiple posts circulated a wedding picture of Mirza on social media platforms on June 12, claiming that the Indian tennis player got married to Shami. However, the viral image is edited and actually dates back to her wedding with Pakistani cricketer Shoaib Malik in April 2010.

Mirza got married to Malik in April 2010. A statement posted by her father on Instagram on January 21 said she and Malik were divorced “for a few months now”, following the Pakistani cricketer’s announcement of his marriage to actress Sana Javed.

Since then, various rumours have been spread by Indian media outlets about Mirza’s alleged wedding with Shami which can be seen here, here and here.

HOW IT STARTED

On June 12, 2024, iVerify Pakistan was alerted by the public and requested to authenticate a claim about an alleged wedding picture of Mirza and Shami.

A picture shared on social media platform Facebook purportedly showed the wedding of the two athletes. The post’s caption said, “Sania Mirza married Mohammad Shami after divorce with Shoaib! Nikkah pictures viral, know the truth.”

The post was liked by more than 5,000 users.

The same picture and the caption was shared by an Indian account on Facebook on June 8. It gained likes by over 18,000 users.

The same picture and caption were also shared on X here, here and here.

METHODOLOGY

A fact check was initiated to determine the veracity of the claim due to its virality and to satisfy the public’s request for authentication since the issue attracted keen public interest as Mirza was previously married to Pakistani cricketer Shoaib Malik.

To investigate the claim and the picture, a reverse image search was conducted which showed that the viral image and similar caption were shared previously in January 2024 as well here and here.

Furthermore, the search yielded the original picture from the wedding ceremony of Mirza and Malik back in April 2010. The picture was sourced to a photo album by Indian news outlet India Today.

The picture was originally taken on April 15, 2010, during the wedding reception that took place in Hyderabad, India.

The original picture features Mirza wearing a red wedding dress and Malik wearing a white traditional wedding dress.

The same clothing is present in the viral image with the only difference being that Shami’s face is imposed over Malik’s.

FACT-CHECK STATUS: FALSE

The claim regarding a picture showing a wedding between Mirza and Shami is false.

The circulating picture is fake and the result of editing an image of Mirza and Malik’s wedding in April 2010.

Evidence and References

April 15, 2010, India Today photo album of Shoaib Malik, Sania Mirza wedding:
https://www.indiatoday.in/india/photo/saniashoaibs-wedding-album-363664-2010-04-12/2