False news: Fake video of MS Dhoni being welcomed with ‘boom, boom Afridi’ chant in Kashmir goes viral

Far away from the hustle and bustle on international cricket, veteran wicketkeeper-batsman MS Dhoni is currently in Kashmir serving the Indian army. The former India skipper, who is Honorary Lieutenant Colonel, is currently on duty with the 106 TA Batallion (Para) of the Indian Army in Kashmir. He has taken a two-month break from cricket to serve in the army and will be staying in the valley till August 15th.

The fans are keeping a keen eye on what their beloved cricketer is doing on the valley which has been the hotbed for militancy for decades now. The tension in the valley escalated to newer heights in recent times after the government’s decision to abrogate Article 370 which grants special status to Jammu and Kashmir.

But Dhoni, who has always been selfless when it comes to serving the nation, has put up a brave face to serve his motherland.  He was recently spotted playing volleyball with the other soldiers in Kashmir. Soon a photo of him went viral where he was seen polishing his shoes.

False News spreads as old video goes viral

While the fans are hailing MS Dhoni’s decision to serve the Army, an old video of November 2017 got viral on social media where the people had welcomed him with the chants of Boom Boom by the name of the former Pakistan cricketer Shahid Afridi.

In the video, the World Cup-winning skipper was in Baramulla when some locals expressed their displeasure. As soon as they spotted Dhoni in the army dress, they started shouting the names of Pakistan cricketer Shahid Afridi.

Here is the clip of the incident which happened in 2017:

Crowd started chanting Boom Boom Afridi when Dhoni reached Kashmir.. What a sight @SAfridiOfficial 🇵🇰#Cricket #PakistanZindabad pic.twitter.com/7gCabGzoy1

— Mohammed Faizan Najeeb (@danawalafaizan) August 7, 2019

Dhoni is likely to return to action soon in international cricket. India are more than likely to recall him when they host South Africa in September after the conclusion of the ongoing tour of West Indies. They will play three T20Is against the Proteas before locking horns in as many numbers of Tests.

Dhoni recently faced widespread criticism after his uncharacteristic knocks in the World Cup. While Dhoni continued to get runs, it was his strike-rate that made things worse for him. But despite the criticism, the team-management has once again thrown its support behind their veteran man.

*Clarification: CricTracker published a story with the video after it went viral but it was later verified by fact check outlets that it was an old video from 2017. The article has since been updated with the required changes to make it factually correct. We regret the error which caused us to spread unverified and false news.

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