Fact Check: Viral Picture Of Indian Cricket Team's Vimal Pan Masala Jersey Is AI-Generated

Fact Check: After the Online Gaming Amendment 2025, the sponsorship agreement between the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and Dream11 ended, prompting the BCCI to search for a new sponsor. Amid this, a picture showing Ajay Devgn and BCCI Executive President Rajiv Shukla holding the Indian cricket team jersey with a Vimal Pan Masala logo has gone viral. The claim suggests that Vimal Pan Masala is the new sponsor of the Indian cricket team.

Vishvas News, in its investigation, found that the viral claim is false. Neither Vimal Pan Masala nor BCCI has announced any such deal. The viral is AI-generated and is being shared with a false claim.

What is going viral?

Facebook user 'Sameer Roy' shared the viral picture on August 27, 2025, with the caption, "This is an insult to India. Now the stadium will turn red when people will eat Vimal and call themselves 'Wah Juba Kesari'. BCCI promoted Vimal Gutkha print on Indian cricket team's jersey. Such a cheap thinking."

Investigation

To verify the authenticity of the viral picture, we conducted a Google search using relevant keywords and did not find any credible news reports mentioning that Vimal Pan Masala will be the new sponsor of the Indian cricket team. The reports we came across only mentioned that the BCCI is looking for a new sponsor.

Taking the investigation further, we checked the official website of BCCI but found no information supporting the claim. However, the site still lists Dream11 as the sponsor, with no mention of Vimal Pan Masala.

Since no supporting information was found, we suspected the photo to be AI-generated and tested it using AI detection tools. The AI Detector Content Tool indicated an 82% probability of the photo being AI-generated, while the AI Image Detector indicated a 92% probability of it being AI-generated.

According to a report published on the Money Control website on August 31, 2025, “The contract between the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and fantasy gaming company Dream11 broke down. The contract was for three years, but due to a new law, it had to be terminated midway. In July 2023, Dream11 had signed a three-year deal with BCCI for ?358 crore. But, recently the 'Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Bill, 2025' has been passed by the Parliament, which also got the President's approval on 23 August. This bill clearly states that online money gaming, which can lead to illegal activities like financial fraud and money laundering, is a threat to national security. As soon as this law came, Dream11 has stopped all its paid contests. This is the reason why the company also ended its contract with BCCI. After the departure of Dream11, BCCI is now looking for a new main sponsor.”

For further clarity, we contacted sports analyst, journalist, and commentator Syed Hussain, who confirmed that the viral claim is false. He clarified that BCCI has not made any such announcement and is currently in the process of finding a new sponsor.

Finally, we scanned the account of the user who shared the misleading photo and found that the user identifies as a resident of Patna and has 63000 followers.

Conclusion: Vishvas News, in its investigation, found that the image showing Vimal Pan Masala on the Indian cricket team’s jersey is AI-generated. So far, the BCCI has not made any official announcement regarding the sponsorship.