Adam Gilchrist rubbishes fake Pakistan quote attributed to him

A fake post slamming Pakistan cricket attributed to Adam Gilchrist has gone viral, drawing a strong response from the Aussie great.

Adam Gilchrist has swiftly slammed a fake quote attributed to him on social media rubbishing the Pakistan cricket team.

In a demonstration of how dangerous and fabricated social media can be, the Aussie great was quoted on Facebook supposedly saying: “Pakistan is the worst Asian team in Australian conditions, what (have) they won here in the last 35 years?”

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Not surprisingly, a large number of Pakistan cricket support groups jumped on the post, with hundreds of comments mostly agreeing with the sentiment, despite the visiting team’s competitiveness this summer.

But the 52-year-old Gilchrist responded seemingly as soon as he became aware of it in a post on X with a dateline of 12:57am on Friday morning.

“I never said this,” the former wicketkeeper wrote. “Absolutely fake, made up quotes.

Adam Gilchrist swiftly condemned the fake post. (Photo by Quinn Rooney/Getty Images)

“Pakistan were excellent at times this summer, against a world champion Aust team and very nearly pinched a Test or two.”

While the Pakistanis were on the receiving end of a 3-0 whitewash in the series, they were extremely competitive in the second and third Tests and took the fight right up to the top-ranked Australian side.

Gilchrist’s post has already been viewed more than 365,000 times and has almost 200 comments, with most pleased to read it had been fake news.

“I didn’t think you would have said this, but so nice of you to clarify,” was one response.

“Already knew that a cricketer like Adam Gilchrist would never say such things to demean a cricketing nation,” wrote another.

I never said this. Absolutely fake, made up quotes. Pakistan were excellent at times this summer, against a World Champion Aust team and very nearly pinched a Test or two. #fakenews#ignorepic.twitter.com/DsQ9KUINIr

— Adam Gilchrist (@gilly381) January 11, 2024

“We believe you sir that’s why we didn’t take it seriously... There are same haters they usually spread fake news,” added a third.

The development comes after Ricky Ponting also found himself at the centre of an ugly fake tweet storm in the wake of Australia’s One-Day World Cup victory over India.

The social media onslaught from fans kicked off almost immediately after the Aussies hoisted the trophy into the air.

Players, family members, foreign journalists and even New Zealand all-rounder Jimmy Neesham found themselves the target of vile social media attacks.

The backlash took an even more alarming turn when a tweet was posted with comments attributed to Ponting.

Gilchrist was one of world cricket’s most popular players. Photo: News Limited

The tweet, posted by a verified account with over 2800 followers, stated the Australian icon lashed out at the BCCI in the wake of the World Cup loss.

“Ricky Ponting on Fox Cricket: ‘This is a win of justice against cricket mafia. Your money and power is still not winning World Cups for you. How embarrassing.’ Ponting owned India and BCCI,” the post read.

The tweet was viewed more than a million times after it was posted with over 700 replies and 24,000 likes.

The issue? No evidence exists at all of Ponting ever making these remarks and Ponting’s management confirmed to news.com.au at the time that the tweet was fake.

“Yes the tweet is fake. We have nothing else to add,” the statement read.

Ricky Ponting (right) has also been targeted by a fake social media post. (Photo by Stu Forster/Getty Images)

Ponting did take aim at the host nation in the lead-up to the final, but only in relation to the pitch that was prepared for the decider.

Suggestions ran riot in the lead up to the final that India had reportedly manipulated the pitch to favour their spin bowling attack.

Aussie skipper Pat Cummins raised concerns over the state of the wicket and how the middle of the pitch was “rock hard”, but appeared rough at both ends.

Ponting noted how the preparation of the wicket, meant to suit India, didn’t go at all according to plan.

“It was very, very sub-continental conditions today,” the former Test captain said.

“A wicket preparation that has probably ended up backfiring on India to be totally fair.”