“Bangladeshi women cricketers played cricket wearing Islamic clothes/burqa during a match vs New Zealand.”
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Executive summary
A viral image claiming Bangladeshi women cricketers played against New Zealand in burqas during the ICC Women’s World Cup 2025 is false: multiple independent fact‑checks found the photo was AI‑generated and official match footage shows players in standard Bangladesh jerseys [1] [2] [3]. The image carried a Google/Gemini watermark and has been traced to AI manipulation, while reputable outlets and the ICC highlights contain no evidence of burqa‑clad play [2] [4] [5].
1. The core claim and immediate reality
Social posts presented a screenshot‑style image of two Batters allegedly “fully covered” in black burqas on the field with a scoreboard identifying Jhelik and Supta, but every major fact‑check and match highlights reviewed by investigators show the Bangladesh players wearing their green and red national kit — not burqas — during the New Zealand game on October 10, 2025 [6] [7] [4].
2. How investigators tied the image to AI manipulation
Fact‑checking teams consistently detected artifacts and a visible “Gemini AI” watermark on the viral picture and ran the image through AI‑detection tools; their reports concluded the image was generated or morphed using AI rather than captured from an actual broadcast, a finding repeated across outlets including The Quint, Boom, and DigitEYE [2] [5] [4].
3. Official footage and reporting contradict the viral post
Reviewers compared the viral still to the ICC’s official match highlights and other broadcast clips; those videos show the Bangladesh side in standard uniforms and identify the two players named in the fake image batting without face coverings, a discrepancy that would have been impossible to miss if the burqa claim were real [2] [3] [8].
4. Context on head coverings and ICC rules often missing from the story
Several fact‑checks reminded readers that while ICC regulations permit players to wear hijabs (headscarves) provided logos and names remain visible, a full face‑covering burqa is not standard or permitted in play — a nuance that viral posts conflated or ignored while amplifying a sensational image [9] [6] [8].
5. Why the lie spread: narratives, agendas and the role of AI
The doctored image was circulated with captions praising “modesty” and framing it as a cultural statement, and it rapidly accrued views and shares; fact‑checkers warned the post exploited emotive cultural themes and the novelty of believable AI imagery to mislead audiences and score social engagement rather than to inform [10] [11] [5].
6. Sources, limits and alternative perspectives
Multiple independent media fact‑checks and match footage reviews all converged on the conclusion that the image was fabricated [1] [7] [12], yet reporting also noted that women cricketers in other countries have worn hijabs in ICC events — a legitimate example of religious dress in cricket that differs from the false claim about full burqas on the Bangladesh field [1] [8]. No credible source or official statement was found that supports the burqa‑on‑field claim; if further evidence appears from primary broadcasters or the ICC, that would warrant reassessment, but none of the provided reporting documents such evidence [2] [3].