A video is going viral on social media showing a few people walking alongside Indian cricketer Mahendra Singh Dhoni, holding him by the arms as they escort him across a street. The clip is being shared with the claim that Dhoni has been arrested in the UK. Let’s verify the truth behind this claim.
Claim: The viral video shows Indian cricketer Mahendra Singh Dhoni being arrested in the UK.
Fact: The video does not show Dhoni being arrested. It was filmed in London on 16 July 2022, where Dhoni was simply walking on a street while fans chased him for selfies. Multiple news reports confirm he was in England for India’s ODI series and his birthday celebrations. The clip only shows fans following him, and his bodyguards guiding him by holding his hand toward the car. Hence, the claim is FALSE.
To verify the facts, we first conducted a keyword search to check if any reports mentioned Dhoni being arrested. No such information was found. We then performed a reverse image search using screenshots from the viral video, which led us to several social media posts where the same footage was shared with the context that Dhoni was spotted in the UK and fans were chasing him (here, here and here).
We also found that The Times of India had uploaded the same video on its YouTube channel on 17 July 2022, identifying it as a clip of former India captain MS Dhoni being chased by fans eager for selfies on the streets of London. The report explained that the 41-year-old cricketer was in England at the time, celebrating his birthday with his wife, friends, and a few Indian players. The viral footage simply shows Dhoni walking in London while Indian fans enthusiastically follow him.
Further search led us to more news articles confirming that the video was recorded in London on 16 July 2022 (here, here and here). These reports noted that several former Indian cricketers—including Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly, MS Dhoni, and Suresh Raina—were in England during India’s ODI series against England. Dhoni, who had been in England since early July 2022, around his birthday, was seen strolling through London as excited fans ran behind him for selfies. His bodyguard is simply seen guiding him to the car. All available evidence confirms that the viral video does not show an arrest but simply captures Dhoni walking on a London street with fans following him.
To sum up, the viral video claiming that MS Dhoni was arrested in the UK is fake.
