A viral video of Kapil Dev being kidnapped by a gang did the rounds on social media on September 25. The video was shared by several social media influencers with large follower counts.

Gambhir, a former World Cup winning player for India himself, hoped that it was not the real Kapil Dev.

Anyone else received this clip, too? Hope it’s not actually @therealkapildev 🤞and that Kapil Paaji is fine! pic.twitter.com/KsIV33Dbmp

— Gautam Gambhir (@GautamGambhir) September 25, 2023

All signs pointed towards it being part of some promotional campaign. That is exactly what it turned out to be as Disney+Hotstar released the complete video on September 26.

In the video, a gang kidnaps Kapil and makes a demand to the local police that electricity not be cut off during the 2023 Cricket World Cup matches.

Disney+Hotstar, who hold broadcasting rights for all ICC tournaments until 2027, will be offering free live-streaming for the entire 2023 World Cup. Kapil’s fake kidnapping was part of an ad campaign to promote the same.

A similar sort of incident happened took place before the 2022 IPL, when Harsha Bhogle posted a video of him being forcibly taken away during an Instagram Live session. Bhogle pretended to being attacked by strangers in his hotel room. That stunt did not go down well among the Indian fans, and Bhogle issued an apology.

Whether this “kidnapping” of Kapil Dev garners a similar reaction from the public or not, remains to be seen.

Watch the promotional video released by Disney+Hotstar:

Areh @therealkapildev paaji well played! Acting ka World Cup 🏆 bhi aap hi jeetoge! Ab hamesha yaad rahega ki ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup is free on @DisneyPlusHS mobile pic.twitter.com/755RVcpCgG

— Gautam Gambhir (@GautamGambhir) September 26, 2023