Sanjeeb Phuyal is the Nepali Editor of Newschecker based in Kathmandu, Nepal. He brings over a decade of experience writing and editing news. In his previous stint, he worked as online editor for The Kathmandu Post. With the growth of social media platforms—and the ever-growing competition amongst media outlets to churn out breaking news, he feels that fact-checking every piece of information has become more essential today than ever before.
Claim
Cricketer Mahendra Singh Dhoni was not allowed to show Nepal’s jersey at a press conference.
Fact
Viral video actually shows MS Dhoni not allowed to show India’s jersey during the re-launch of Oreo.
A 14-second video allegedly showing Indian cricketer Mahendra Singh Dhoni being disallowed to show Nepal’s jersey to the media as he was being considered for Nepal’s head coach is going viral on TikTok.
TikTok user @kamall1524 posted a video showing cricketer MS Dhoni speaking at a press conference. Text superimposed on the video reads, “MS Dhoni was not allowed to show Nepal’s jersey to the media at a time when his appointment as Nepal’s head coach is being considered. Even though Ishan Kishan refused to come, Dhoni’s arrival has become almost certain.” In the video, Dhoni says, “Same jersey.” Another person sitting next to Dhoni interrupts Dhoni saying, “Sir, Sir. Not allowed.” Then Dhoni goes on to say, “Same hair-style, this is allowed right?”
The video posted on August 11 has garnered 3072 likes, 62 people have commented and 13 users have shared it.
The archived version of the TikTok video can be seen here.
Newschecker found the claim to be misleading.
Fact Check /Verification
To check the authenticity of the claim made in the viral video, Newschecker took a key-frame from the viral video and ran a reverse search on Google. The search led us to a video, dated Sept 25, 2022, published on a YouTube named Republic of Games. On checking the video, we found that Dhoni was disallowed to display team India’s jersey during a press conference of Oreo.
Further, we conducted a search on Google by taking clues from the video and came across another video, dated September 25, 2022, published on a YouTube channel named India commercials. We found that the video frame from the 2.30-minute timestamp onwards exactly matched the viral video. The video actually showed a press conference during the launch of Oreo biscuit.
We also found an article, dated Sept 26, 2022, published in the Free Press Journal regarding the same press conference.
Currently, India national Monty Desai is the head coach of Nepal and his two-year contract signed in February 2023 is still not over.
Thus, our findings clearly demonstrate that the viral video shows Dhoni launching a new product of Oreo. It has nothing to do with Dhoni showing Nepal’s jersey and his appointment as Nepal’s head coach.
Conclusion
No, the viral video allegedly showing star cricketer MS Dhoni being forbidden from showing Nepal’s jersey is misleading. The video actually shows an Oreo official cautioning him from displaying India’s jersey during the launch of Oreo’s new product.
Result: False
Sources
Republic of Games/YouTube, Sept 25, 2022
Indian Commercials, , Sept 25, 2022
Free Press Journal , Sept 26, 2022
The Kathmandu Post, Feb 6, 2023
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Sanjeeb Phuyal is the Nepali Editor of Newschecker based in Kathmandu, Nepal. He brings over a decade of experience writing and editing news. In his previous stint, he worked as online editor for The Kathmandu Post. With the growth of social media platforms—and the ever-growing competition amongst media outlets to churn out breaking news, he feels that fact-checking every piece of information has become more essential today than ever before.
