Ricky Ponting did not say Australia’s World Cup victory is ‘win against cricket mafia’

What's the claim?

After Australia won the ICC Men's Cricket World Cup 2023, an X post claiming former Australian skipper Ricky Ponting called the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and India "cricket mafia" is going viral on social media. The post includes a picture of Ponting, and the accompanying caption reads, "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 (sic)." The post had gathered around 1 million views and over 6,700 reshares at the time of publishing. Archived version of the post can be viewed here.

Screenshots of the X post are being widely shared on other social media platforms. One Facebook user shared the screenshot with the caption, "This is a win of justice against Cricket mafia. ~ Ricky Ponting." Archived versions of such posts can be found here and here.

Screenshot of posts attributing a fabricated quote to Ricky Ponting. (Source: Facebook/X/Modified by Logically Facts)

However, the viral quote attributed to Ponting is fabricated. 

Did Ricky Ponting call India or the BCCI 'cricket mafia'?

Logically Facts found that Ponting made no such statement after Australia's win against India in the World Cup finals in Ahmedabad, India. 

Our investigation included reviewing Ponting's recent interview with Fox. We found an article published by 'www.foxsports.com.au' on November 20, titled, "Ricky Ponting, Michael Vaughan and Nasser Hussain call out India for tactical pitch 'backfire." We found no statement from Ponting in the article labeling India or the BCCI as 'Cricket Mafia' in the article.

The Fox article talked about the pitch the final was played on and quoted Ponting voicing concerns about Ahmedabad's pitch at the Narendra Modi Stadium, asserting that it had adverse effects on India's performance in the finals. The article said, "Aussie cricket icon Ricky Ponting said the pitch prepared "backfired on India." It should be noted that the fabricated quote misrepresents his commentary furnished in the Fox article, concealing his criticism of the pitch conditions. 

We also trawled Fox Cricket's social media accounts and found no video, no visual, no post referring to the viral remark purportedly made by Ponting.

We also found that the representative image of Ricky Ponting in the viral tweet was taken during a press conference in 2019. The press event was held in Delhi on March 19, 2019, ahead of the start of the 2019 Indian Premier League (IPL) cricket tournament. The actual image shows Ponting talking to former Indian cricketer Sourav Ganguly. An ESPN report carried the original image showing Ponting and Ganguly in the frame. News agency Press Trust of India was credited for the photo.

Screenshot of the original photo showing Ricky Ponting and Sourav Ganguly at a press event  in 2019. (Source: ESPN)

According to a report by The Times of India, following India's defeat by Australia in the World Cup finals, Ricky Ponting praised Pat Cummins for his "faultless captaincy." 

The verdict

The viral quote falsely accuses Ponting of labeling the BCCI a "cricket mafia." Ponting did not give any such statement to Fox Cricket. Therefore, we mark this claim false.