Reports of Sanath Jayasuriya's death circulated on social media a hoax

News of former Sri Lankan cricketer Sanath Jayasuriya's death has been doing the rounds since a report emerged that he died in a car accident in Canada.

Screenshot of the fake report on Jayasuriya's death

The report's headline read “Man knocked down by vehicle in Toronto identified as former Sri Lankan cricketer Sanath Jayasuriya” along with his picture. It also claimed that the Sri Lankan embassy in Canada confirmed that it was Jayasuriya.

India spinner Ravichandran Ashwin took to Twitter to express his disbelief and asked if the news was true. “Is the news on Sanath Jayasuriya true? I got a news update on WhatsApp but see nothing here on Twitter!” Ashwin tweeted.

The report of Jayasuriya's death is a hoax and the ex Sri Lanka captain is alive and well.

Users soon replied to their tweets saying that the news was a hoax. After receiving confirmation, Ashwin tweeted that the story was fake news.

Jayasuriya's Twitter account said it was fake news and asked people to not share it. “Please disregard fake news by malicious websites regarding my health and well being,” he tweeted. “I am in Sri Lanka and have not visited Canada recently. Please avoid sharing the fake news.”

Bollywood actor Arshad Warsi fell for the fake news and shared the report on his Twitter account, tweeting that the news is “shocking & sad”. He later retweeted Jayasuriya's tweet commenting, “Thank god... the world loves you a lot ...”

Cricktracker also confirmed that Jayasuriya debunked the story. “Since last night, there has been fake news of me being hurt in a car accident. The hoax has my family & friends deeply disturbed. Please ignore any such news,” he stated.