Social media users have shared an image showing Bollywood actor Ajay Devgn with the former Vice-President of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), Rajiv Shukla has gone viral on social media.
The claim: Those sharing noted that Vimal Pan Masala (Devgn is the brand's ambassador) was anticipated to be a potential sponsor for the BCCI contract, with the agreement expected to extend until 2028.
What we found: At first, we ran a Google reverse image search on the viral image, but did not find any credible reports or announcements by the board about the same.
We checked the BCCI website under 'Our Partners' section but did not find the 'gutkha' company.
Under their press releases section, it had no notification about onboarding Vimal Pan as their partner.
About the image: We could not find the source of the image, as well.
We, then, ran it on AI-detection website Hive Moderation, and found the image was 71.7% AI-generated.
Some context: The BCCI has formally ended its ₹358 crore jersey sponsorship agreement with fantasy-gaming platform Dream11 following the enactment of the Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Act, 2025, which prohibits real-money gaming sponsorships, making the continuation of that partnership legally untenable, reported NDTV.
The news outlet reported that two companies, Toyota Motor Corporation and a Fintech start-up, have shown interest in becoming the Indian cricket team's title sponsor.
Conclusion: A fake post has gone viral on social media, falsely claiming that Vimal Pan has collaborated with the BCCI as their sponsor.
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