A video has gone viral on various social media platforms (here, here, here & here), claiming that the young Sri Lankan pacer Matheesha Pathirana, who is playing for the Chennai Super Kings (CSK), took blessings from MS Dhoni by touching his feet before bowling his over. In this article, let’s fact-check the claim made in the post.
Claim: During an IPL 2024 match, Sri Lankan cricketer Matheesha Pathirana sought blessings from MS Dhoni by touching his feet before bowling.
Fact: A different angle of the same incident reveals that Pathirana did not touch Dhoni’s feet but instead bent down to pick up the bowling marker which was placed near MS Dhoni feet. Hence, the claim made in the post is FALSE.
To learn more about the viral video, we conducted a Google reverse image search using the keyframes from the footage. This search led us to a video (archived link) posted on X (formerly Twitter) on 29 March 2024, showing a different angle of the same incident.
It clearly depicts Pathirana bending down to pick up the bowling marker placed near Dhoni’s feet. Here is a comparison of viral video with the X (Twitter) video.
During this search, we also came across an article by ‘Sports Keeda’ published on 29 March 2024, with the headline ‘Matheesha Pathirana did not touch MS Dhoni’s feet during CSK vs. GT IPL 2024 match.’ Sports Keeda exclusively provides sports updates. Additional reports clarifying this viral video can be seen here, here, & here.
To sum it up, Pathirana did not touch MS Dhoni’s feet before bowling; instead, he was picking up the bowling marker which was near MS Dhoni’s feet.
