Former Indian cricket captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s experiments with trendy hairstyles and looks have always set new fashion goals for youngsters.
Social media users are sharing an image of the former captain of the Indian cricket team, Mahendra Singh Dhoni, in a new avatar. In the image, he can be seen wearing a robe and has a bald head. This image is going viral, claiming that Dhoni has converted into Buddhism. Social media users are sharing the image with the caption, “World cup winning, former Indian cricket captain, Mahendra Singh Dhoni converted to Buddhism”.
Anti Fake News War Room (AFWA) has found the viral claim to be misleading. This picture of Dhoni in a monk-like avatar is for a “Star Sports” campaign. The sports channel had posted this image and a video of Dhoni on social media, inviting people’s reactions. The image of Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s new avatar was first tweeted by Star Sports on March 13, 2021. Star Sports tweeted the image with a caption, “our faces since we saw #MSDhoni’s new avatar that could just break the Internet! What do you think is it about?”
On March 14, Star Sports took to Twitter to unveil the mystery behind Dhoni’s new look. They put out a Tweet with a caption that says, “VIVOIPL salutes the new Indian spirit that is eager to innovate and rewrite the rulebook. Will history be created yet again this IPL? Join us in celebrating #IndiaKaApnaMantra. LIVE from Apr 9 | Broadcast starts 6 PM, Match starts 7:30 PM | Star Sports & Disney+Hotstar VIP.” The caption revealed that the new look of Dhoni was for an advertisement for IPL 2021.
AFWA spoke to Arun Pandey, known as a friend, confidante and business partner of Dhoni.
Dismissing the viral claim of Dhoni converting to Buddhism, Pandey said, “This is just a new campaign of Star Sports and nothing else.”
Hence, the viral claim saying Dhoni has converted to Buddhism is misleading. The viral image is just a campaign by IPL broadcaster Star Sports.
