Just hours after widespread reports emerged confirming the passing of Zimbabwean pacer Heath Streak, his former national teammate Henry Olonga stepped forward Wednesday to debunk the news as inaccurate and exaggerated.
Olonga, taking to X (formerly Twitter), stated firmly: "I can confirm that rumors of the demise of Streak have been greatly exaggerated. I just heard from him. The third umpire has called him back. He is very much alive folks."
Alongside his statement, Olonga shared a screenshot of what appeared to be a conversation between himself and Streak.
It was Olonga who initially broke the news of Streak's passing.
In an earlier post on X, Olonga expressed his condolences, writing: "Sad news coming through that Streak has crossed to the other side. RIP Zimbabwe cricket legend. The greatest all-rounder we produced. It was a pleasure playing with you."
The message led to numerous global media outlets running stories about Streak's supposed demise.
However, the post has since been removed from Olonga's X profile.
Streak, 49, has been battling cancer and undergoing treatment.
This latest series of events has led to confusion and speculation surrounding his current condition.
The all-rounder was the all-time leading Test wicket-taker for his country.
He took 216 wickets and scored 1,990 runs in 65 Tests between 1993 and 2005.
He also played in 189 one-day internationals, scoring 2,943 runs and taking 239 wickets.
Post-retirement Streak served as Bangladesh coach and was the bowling coach of twice Indian Premier League champions Kolkata Knight Riders.
In 2021 he was given an eight-year ban from the sport after admitting breaches of the International Cricket Council's anti-corruption code.
He took "full responsibility" for his actions but said he had never been involved in any attempts to fix matches.
