India's ODI and Test captain Shubman Gill was in the social media spotlight once again with a post suggesting that the Indian opener had edited a celebration photo, removing Sanju Samson from it. This trend later saw a lot of debate among cricket fans. The said post arrived soon after India's historic win in the ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2026 final against New Zealand. The summit clash was played at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on 8 March and India beat New Zealand by 96 runs. The team led by the phenomenal Suryakumar Yadav thus became the first in history to successfully defend their T20 World Cup crown as they put in a strong performance with both bat and ball to secure a memorable victory. Sanju Samson's Brilliant World Cup Show In the T20 World Cup, Samson was one of India's leading performers. Though not an outright starter, he utilized the opportunities he was given to the maximum. Samson played crucial innings for India every time he got an opportunity. In five matches, Samson remained India's leading run-scorer by scoring 321 runs at an average of 80.25 which helped India in several matches. The batter from Kerala was subsequently adjudged the Player of the Tournament for his fantastic performance in the mega event. Even before the start of the World Cup, changes were made to the Indian squad. At one point, Sanju Samson was replaced at the top of the order by Shubman Gill in the Asia Cup squad, but with the announcement of the World Cup squad, Gill failed to find a spot in it. Samson later moved back to open in the series against New Zealand before the World Cup and opened in the T20 World Cup too. Also Read | Suryakumar Yadav shared backstory on dropping Vice captain during '26 T20 WC matches Fact Check: Did Gill Deliberately Remove Samson from Image? After India's World Cup victory, the photograph posted by Shubman Gill on his social media page began doing the rounds. Various social media users stated that the picture had been doctored and that Samson had been removed because Gill had been replaced by him at the top of the order. Here is a tweet from a social media user that illustrates what I am talking about: Shubman gill getting cooked on insta for removing Sanju Samson from the WC trophy pic 🏆 pic.twitter.com/Hlh0FKNrhD — Sixer Dube 🇮🇳 (@ShivamSixerDube) March 13, 2026 As it turns out, the claim is false. As it has turned out, the photo that Gill posted on his social media page was also shared by several Indian players like Shivam Dube and R. Ashwin which clearly proves that the said photo was a real photograph taken during the team celebration. After the penny drops.Some wins feel special, and this one truly does from a POV “ this isn’t just a World Cup win, it’s a statement.@surya_14kumar for the fearless energy you bring to the team is infectious.@GautamGambhir for the grit and winning mindset you have managed… pic.twitter.com/zq6Ax2WAqG — Ashwin 🇮🇳 (@ashwinravi99) March 9, 2026 In addition, Yashasvi Jaiswal also shared the same picture on his congratulatory tweet to India, which reasserts that the picture was taken at the same time. Some people believed that Gill has deleted the photo of Sanju Samson by comparing the photo posted by him and another photo taken by Suryakumar Yadav. But in reality, both the photos were clicked at different time intervals. Thus, there is no evidence of Shubman Gill editing the photograph.