Following India’s T20 World Cup 2026 victory, a video of New Zealand spinner Ish Sodhi in tears has gone viral with the claim that he was moved by the Indian national anthem due to his Indian roots. Who was born in Ludhiana, Punjab, got sentimental when the Indian national anthem played before the final match of the tournament started.
Let’s check the truth.
Factcheck:
We began our investigation by conducting a keyword search on Google, which led us to a viral video of Ish Sodhi, visibly emotional, shared on Instagram on 23 February by the user named aimias_studycircle. The post indicates that the video captures Sodhi during the New Zealand national anthem and notes that the incident occurred on 14 February during New Zealand’s match against South Africa.
The caption reads, “Ish Sodhi was crying during the New Zealand national anthem. During the NZ vs SA T20 World Cup match (14 Feb 2026), cameras captured an emotional moment — tears in his eyes while singing the anthem.”
India won the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026 by defeating New Zealand by 96 runs in the final on 8 March 2026. This viral video was shared in February 2026.
Next, we cross-checked this with the match replay on Jio Hotstar. At the 8:09 mark of the February 14th broadcast, Sodhi can be seen clearly tearing up during the New Zealand national anthem.
We also reviewed the official ICC footage of the national anthems from the final held in Ahmedabad on 8 March, 2026. The broadcasts of both the Indian and New Zealand anthems did not include the emotional moment that was highlighted in the viral post.
So, the viral video actually shows Ish Sodhi appearing teary-eyed during the New Zealand national anthem ahead of his team’s match against South Africa on 14 February.
Conclusion
Fact Crescendo found that the claim made along with the viral video to be Misleading. This video, which is from February 2026, shows Ish Sodhi becoming emotional during New Zealand’s anthem instead of the Indian anthem, and it was not recorded before the final match.
Title: This video does not show New Zealand cricketer Ish Sodhi getting emotional during the Indian National Anthem
Fact Check By: Usha Manoj
Result: Misleading
