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Mumbai, Dec 3: Under pressure to prove his worth, Mayank Agarwal made the best statement possible with a superb hundred as India recovered from a sudden top-order collapse to reach 221 for 4 in two extended opening day sessions against New Zealand in the second Test here on Friday.

Agarwal (120 batting, 246 balls), who is all but certain to sit out once Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul come back during the next series (if South Africa then away, if West Indies then home), added to a happy headache for coach Rahul Dravid, on a day when vice-captain Ajinkya Rahane had to be "dropped" because of a hamstring niggle.

Worse, Cheteshwar Pujara and Virat Kohli failed to trouble the scorers and it was a hundred that came under pressure with India being 80 for 3 and 160 for 4 at different stages of the game.

Had the Indian team management been forced to play Rahane, the axe was likely to fall on Agarwal and it's never a great feeling to go out there in such a situation.

He was jittery to begin with as a streaky boundary through slips came early on but once he marched down the track to loft Ajaz Patel (29-10-73-4) for a straight six, his nerves had all but vanished.

The boundaries --- 14 in all and four sixes, all off Patel showed his class as he got his fourth hundred in Tests.

In fact, Patel, who was by far the best New Zealand bowler in view, having reduced India from 80 for no loss to 80 for three, did look pedestrian in front of Agarwal at times.

When an airborne Agarwal punched the air after a square driven boundary off part-time seamer Daryl Mitchell, one could sense that pressure weighing a thousand tonne must have come off his chest.

Agarwal was the first choice opener during the England series but before the first game, he got hit on the head and KL Rahul coming in his place, grabbed the opportunity with both hands.

With Rohit also having his best overseas series as Test opener, Agarwal was confined to the reserves.

He could again be back in the reserves but he made a statement of intent with his strokeplay as he dominated the 80-run fourth wicket stand with Shreyas Iyer (18).

Along with another reserve player in Wriddhiman Saha (25 batting, 53 balls), Agarwal added another 61 runs before the close of play.

New Zealand had erred in not playing Neil Wagner on a track where there was a lot of bounce on offer.

If Agarwal showed discretion, same couldn't be said about Shubman Gill (44, 71 balls), who was dazzling till he was around in their 80-run opening stand before Patel snuffed him out.

Gill looked fluent before paying for his impetuosity which led to a mini collapse.

Mumbai-born left-arm spinner Patel also picked up Cheteshwar Pujara and Virat Kohli in quick succession with both failing to trouble the scorers.

Patel became the second Mumbai-born cricketer after legendary England captain Douglas Jardine to play against India in his city of birth.

He altered the length cleverly and the extra bounce, which is always a speciality of Wankhede, helped him immensely.

He had Gill on the mat when he flighted one to entice him to come out and the ball tuned and jumped with keeper Tom Blundell making a hash of a stumping.

However, the very next ball saw him shorten the length as Gill tried jabbing at it and it turned enough to take the outside edge into Ross Taylor's palms.

Pujara's confidence has hit nadir after too many failures and he survived a DRS appeal from New Zealand before he jumped down the track to york himself. Patel, very wisely, fired one with an angle straight into his toes and what happened with Pujara often happens with out-of-form batters.

For skipper Kohli, it was a delivery that straightened after pitching as the Indian skipper tried to play a forward defensive stroke. Straight umpire Anil Chaudhary gave him out and Kohli immediately asked for a review.

The replay was inconclusive on whether it hit the bat first or pad and as per rule, TV umpire Virender Sharma went with his on-field colleague, leaving Kohli absolutely livid.

He had a word with leg umpire Nitin Menon and was seen expressing his displeasure.

The TV cameras then caught him standing in the dressing room balcony, visibly upset with the decision, which was a touch and go one.

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Claim: Viral video shows celebrities from all around the world taking a dip in the holy water at Mahakumbh Mela.

Fact: The viral video is AI generated, these celebrities have not visited Mahakumbh Mela.

The Maha Kumbh Mela is a major Hindu festival held every 12 years at Prayagraj, India. It began on January 13, 2025, and will continue till February 26, 2025. This event is expected to attract around 40 crore visitors, making it the world's largest religious gathering. The festival's origins are rooted in Hindu mythology, symbolising the victory of gods over demons. Devotees believe that bathing at the confluence of the Ganges, Yamuna, and mythical Saraswati rivers cleanses sins and leads to salvation.

To accommodate the massive inflow of pilgrims, the authorities have established a temporary city spanning 4,000 hectares. This includes 150,000 tents, enhanced sanitation facilities, and improved transportation services. Security measures involve deploying 40,000 police officers and surveillance systems to ensure safety. Many foreign enthusiasts from countries like Brazil, Germany, South Africa are visiting the Mahakumbh Mela. Philanthropist Laurene Powell Jobs, the billionaire widow of Steve Jobs, co-founder and former CEO of Apple also visited the Kumbh Mela and received spiritual initiation from her guru and head seer of Panchayati Akhada Shri Niranjani Swami Kailasanand Giri.

Meanwhile, a video showing many celebrities like Elon Musk, Putin, USA President Donald Trump, football players Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo, actors Will Smith, John Cena, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and others and taking a dip in the holy water at the Maha Kumbh Mela. We can see the celebrities taking the holy dip with other devotees in the background. The video is in circulation with the captions like ‘Is elon musk in Kumbh mela 2025?’

Others shared it with caption ‘Haters will say its edited’

Here is the archived link of the claim.

Fact Check:

The claim is False. The video is an AI generated.

When we extracted the keyframes from the viral video, and searched using Google reverse image search, we found that the video was shared by several social media users with the captions like “Elon Musk, Putin, Donald Trump and Other Celebs at Maha Kumbh Mela 2025 - AI Version *Wait For End* #MahaKumbh2025 #MahaKumbhMela2025”

Some users shared the video with captions “और बनाओ AI…. भारत वाले हैं, तुम्हारा ही कबाड़ कर देंगे”. When translated it states “Make more AI…. They are Indians, they will destroy you”

 

When we used Deepfake detector by Invid tool to check whether the video is an AI generated one, it detected the video to be having moderate evidence of being AI generated. Most of the faces in the video were found to be AI-generated. When checked the faces in the video, we found that the faces of Indian PM Modi, US president Trump and Russian President Putin to be more than 90% deepfake.

 
 

According to an article publsihed in Hindustan Times, an AI video of international celebrities at the Mahakumbh Mela is creating waves online. The AI video shows top athletes like Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi taking a dip in the Sangam, which is the confluence of the Ganga, Yamuna and the mythical Saraswati rivers.

World leaders like Donald Trump, Rishi Sunak, and Russia’s Vladimir Putin were seen in the AI video. The use of generative AI also brought Hollywood stars like Will Smith, Zendaya and Tom Holland to Mahakumbh. Meanwhile, the world’s richest man, Elon Musk, was seen taking a dip in the Sangam in the AI video. The video was shared on the Instagram page ‘Artificial Budhi’ and has gone viral with 5.7 million views in a matter of a few days. People in the comments section praised how realistic it looked, but also raised concerns about ethicality.

Hence, the viral video is not an original video, it is AI generated. The claim that several celebrities from various countries are seen taking holy dip in the Sangam at the Mahakumbh Mela is False.

(This story was originally published by telugupost.com, and republished by english.varthabharati.in as part of the Shakti Collective)

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