Bangladeshi national players are playing international cricket in full Islamic veil/abaya‑style clothing.
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Executive summary
The claim that Bangladeshi national players have been competing in full Islamic veil/abaya‑style clothing is false: multiple independent fact‑checks found the viral image is AI‑generated and there is no evidence in match footage or official coverage that Bangladesh women wore burqas or abayas during the ICC Women’s World Cup matches in October 2025 [1] [2] [3]. Reporting does note, however, that female cricketers have worn hijabs in international tournaments — a distinct item from a full burqa — and ICC rules permit head coverings that do not obscure kit identifiers [4] [5].
1. The viral image is an AI‑made hoax, not documentary evidence
A cluster of fact‑checks from outlets including The Quint, BOOM, Factly and others concluded the photo circulating online showing Bangladeshi players in burqas was morphed or AI‑generated; visual forensic clues such as a Google Gemini watermark and the absence of any matching footage in official match highlights substantiated the finding [1] [6] [7]. Investigators cross‑checked match video, ICC highlights and team social media posts and found the players in standard Bangladesh kit, not full‑coverage garments, which supports the consensus that the image is fabricated [2] [8].
2. No evidence Bangladeshi players have worn burqas in official ICC events
Multiple fact‑check pieces explicitly state that no Bangladeshi cricketers have ever played in burqas during official ICC events, and match coverage from the New Zealand v Bangladesh game shows the Bangladesh batters in the national green‑and‑red uniform — not abaya or burqa‑style clothing [9] [2]. Reporting that identified the alleged players by name then located real match clips showing those players in standard kit further undermines the viral claim [10].
3. Hijab versus burqa: reporting conflates different garments
While the burqa/abaya image is false as applied to Bangladesh, reputable reports emphasize that wearing a hijab on field is a separate, legitimate occurrence: players from other countries (for example, Scotland’s Abtaha Maqsood and Pakistan’s Quratulain Ahsen) have played while wearing hijabs in ICC competitions, and ICC guidance allows head coverings so long as they do not hide logos or player names [4] [5]. Coverage warns that confusing these distinct garments — hijab versus burqa/abaya — inflates controversy and misframes religious expression in sport [4].
4. Why the hoax spread and who benefits from it
News outlets and fact‑checkers traced the viral spread to social posts that framed the image to score cultural or political points, with at least one account explicitly using the image to promote a conservative view about women’s dress; the presence of a Gemini logo suggests an AI generator was used to craft a visually convincing but false narrative [8] [6]. The incident illustrates how AI tools can be weaponized to manufacture culture‑war flashpoints around high‑visibility events like World Cups, amplifying polarized takes and generating clicks for accounts that thrive on outrage [11].
5. Limitations and remaining questions
Available reporting covers the October 2025 World Cup incident comprehensively and documents the image as fake and unsupported by match footage, but these sources do not — and cannot — prove categorically that no Bangladeshi player has ever worn an abaya‑style garment in any local or informal match outside ICC events; the fact‑checks are explicit about official ICC event records and match coverage rather than every informal setting [9] [1]. For the specific claim about Bangladeshi national players wearing full veil/abaya‑style clothing in international cricket, the evidence in public reporting and official footage is clear: the claim is untrue for the cited World Cup match and there is no documented precedent in ICC events [9] [3].