A Facebook post showing a tweet from MS Dhoni saying he will play the T20 World Cup is going viral.
MS Dhoni's future is perhaps the most talked about topic right now. The former Indian captain has made himself "unavailable" for the tour of West Indies, according to a PTI report. Dhoni, who is an honorary lieutenant colonel in India's territorial army, has pulled out of the tour to serve his regiment, according to the report. The report came a day before the selectors meet in Mumbai to pick the squads for the upcoming away series.
However, this report also states that Dhoni has ruled out immediate retirement form international cricket. There have been a lot of speculation over Dhoni's future after India's semi-final exit from the recent World Cup.
Meanwhile, a Facebook post suggesting that he intends to play the T20 World Cup which takes place next year is going viral. The post shows a tweet purportedly made by MS Dhoni saying, "I will play 2020 ICC T20 World Cup".
However, it seems the Tweet included in the post seems to be just a clever work of photo editing.
1. Facebook post goes viral
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The Facebook post on MS DHONI FANS CLUB page shows a tweet made by the verified MS Dhoni account, “I know all India disappointed with us after this semi and trolling about my retirement. But this is not the right time to leave my team like this. FANs no need to worry, I will play 2020 ICC T20 World Cup in AUS. Keep supporting”.
Since being posted, the post had been shared more than 12,000 times so far. However, a little research is enough to show that the image of the Twitter post is not genuine.
2. Dhoni never tweeted this
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The tweet in the Facebook post has certainly been created using a photo editing software. The tweet may have a blue tick but it looks fake in even the first scrutiny. The tweet does not feature the Twitter handle nor the date.
A glance at MS Dhoni's actual Twitter handle shows that he never posted this. The last tweet that came from the his account was on May 6.
3. Dhoni takes finite break from cricket
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Dhoni on Saturday made himself "unavailable" for the tour of West Indies but ruled out immediate retirement. Dhoni has told the BCCI that he will take a two-month sabbatical from the game to serve his paramilitary regiment. Dhoni is an Honorary Lieutenant Colonel in the Parachute Regiment of the Territorial Army.
"We would like to clarify three things. MS Dhoni is not retiring from cricket right now. He is taking a two month sabbatical to serve his paramilitary regiment which he had committed much earlier. We have now intimated his decision to skipper Virat Kohli and chairman of selectors MSK Prasad," a senior BCCI official told PTI on Saturday.
The 38-year-old Dhoni's refusal to take retirement now leaves the ball in the court of the selectors, who were expected to drop him from the squad for the West Indies. India will play three T20 Internationals, as many ODIs and two Tests in the tour starting August 3.
