Fact Check: Post on Dhoni, Kohli donating crores to Odisha accident victims is fake

Hyderabad: Several social media users have posted unverified claims about cricketers MS Dhoni and Virat Kohli. The recent heart-wrenching train accident at Bahanaga Bazar, Balasore district, Odisha has shattered many families. Against this backdrop, several reports of celebrities and cricketers donating huge amounts of money to the victims of the accident are making rounds on social media.

According to the viral reel, cricket legends MS Dhoni and Virat Kohli have donated Rs 60 crores and Rs 30 crores to the Odisha train tragedy victims.

Is this legit? Let’s find out.

Fact Check

NewsMeter found the claim to be a hoax.

Regarding CSK Captain MS Dhoni, a keyword search led us to credible media reports on Crictoday, MSN and News9 calling the Rs 60 crore donation fake news. As of now, no official clarification or announcement has been made either by MS Dhoni or his team about any donations to the accident.

Similarly, we could not yield any credible media reports of cricketer Virat Kohli donating Rs 30 crore to the victims. According to a report on India.com, we found that Kohli is currently in the UK for the much-awaited World Test Championship final in 2023.

Through our investigation, we found a condolence tweet on his Twitter handle that reads, “Saddened to hear about the tragic train accident in Odisha. My thoughts and prayers go out to the families who lost their loved ones and wish a speedy recovery to the injured.”

Moreover, taking to Twitter, Team India’s former opener Virender Sehwag has extended help in the form of free education to the children of Odisha train accident victims. His tweet reads, “This image will haunt us for a long time. In this hour of grief, the least I can do is to take care of the education of children of those who lost their lives in this tragic accident. I offer such children free education at Sehwag International School’s boarding facility.”

Hence, we can conclude that the news about Dhoni and Kohli donating huge sums to the accident victims is fake.