Misleading CWG video on Hima Das creates flutter

A misleading video involving India sprinter Hima Das created a flutter on Saturday, and had, among others, former cricketer Virender Sehwag, entangled in its web of misinformation.

Three days before the blue riband track and field events are to start at the ongoing Birmingham Commonwealth Games, the video on Hima, attracted over 3000 likes and more than 6000 retweets.

The video was uploaded on Twitter from a handle called ‘Pegasus’, with a line on top claiming ”Hima Das wins 400m Gold in CWG at Birmingham”.

The clipping was from the U-20 World Athletics Championship in Tampere, Finland in 2018 when the athlete from Assam became the first Indian to win the championship. Sehwag was one of the victims of the misleading video as he wrongly tweeted that the sprint star has won gold in 400m event at the Commonwealth Games, only to delete it after the goof-up was brought to his notice.

The cricketer’s now-deleted tweet read: ”What a win! Indian athletes have totally arrived. Many congratulations to Himas Das on winning gold in the 400m at the Commonwealth Games. Fakr Hai.” The track and field competitions are scheduled to take place at the Alexander Stadium from August 2. Hima is scheduled to contest in the 200m race, which will take place on August 4. The semi-finals and final of the event will take place on August 5 an 6 respectively.