After initially reporting that his former teammate Heath Streak has died, former Zimbabwe pacer Henry Olonga later issued a clarification, saying that the 49-year-old is alive. Olonga's social media activities caused a huge confusion. Streak, the former Zimbabwe captain, has been suffering from a long term illnes and is undergoing medical treatment in the African country. Taking to X (formerly Twitter), Olonga shared a screenshot of his chat with Streak, where the latter joked that the "umpire has called him back".
"I can confirm that rumours of the demise of Heath Streak have been greatly exaggerated. I just heard from him. The third umpire has called him back. He is very much alive folks," Olonga wrote in a post.
Former India batter Virender Sehwag also shared his views on the whole episode as he also took to X to reshare Olonga's latest post.
"Thank you for confirming Henry. Glad Yamraj ji overruled," wrote Sehwag, who is known for his humorous posts on social media.
Earlier, Streak expressed his disappointment over the fake news of his death, saying that the source should apologise for spreading false rumours.
"I am very upset to learn that something as big as someone apparently passing can be spread unverified especially in our day and age of social media," Streak told Mid Day newspaper in an interview.
Streak, who announced his retirement in 2005 at the age of 31, remains the only Zimbabwe bowler with more than 100 Test and over 200 ODI wickets.