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In a viral video on Instagram, posted a couple of days ago, it was claimed that Dasun Shanaka, the former captain of Sri Lanka, had suddenly passed away, but it turned out to be a death hoax. The online clip showed New Zealand cricketers and security officials taking a moment of silence on the cricket field, accompanied by a couple of images of Dasun Shanaka with words like “RIP” and “Miss You,” which sent shockwaves in the cricket community.
Notably, the viral video, which has generated thousands of likes and views over the past couple of days on social media, made several cricket fans believe that Dasun Shanaka, who has been a part of the national set up for a major part of the last 10 years, is indeed no more. But this news isn’t true by any stretch of the imagination since the Sri Lankan cricket board, the mainstream news channels, and the family of Dasun Shanaka haven’t confirmed the unfortunate news to anyone at all.
Dasun Shanaka’s death is a hoax and nothing else
As per the report from Latestly, who have fact-checked the news, Dasun Shanaka’s death is a hoax and nothing else, which is circulated to mislead the cricketing community and generate cheap views for the Instagram page. He was a part of the playing XI of Dubai Capitals in the opening match of the International League T20 (ILT20) 2025 against MI Emirates, which his team won by a run at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium in the UAE on Saturday, January 11.
On the same day, the 33-year-old cricketer also took to his official Instagram account to wish his Sri Lankan teammate and fast bowler Dushmantha Chameera on his birthday. It’s important for the cricket community or anyone else to not believe in such life-altering news shared by unverified sources, and wait for the confirmation from the concerned parties to clear up the confusion one way or another.