For luck's sake, stick to old jerseys, BCCI tells Ind players

In this photograph taken on April 2, 2011, Indian captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni (L) hits a six to win against Sri Lanka as teammate Yuvraj Singh reacts during the Cricket World Cup 2011 final at The Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai. India's cricketers have been ordered to wear the same jersey design that won them the World Cup last year for next week's World Twenty20 in a bid to bring them good luck. Nike, the Indian team's clothing sponsor, had earlier this month unveiled a new Twenty20 design that displayed the national colours prominently and even paraded top stars in the new outfit at a media launch. AFP

Their new jerseys for World Twenty20 were unveiled amid much fanfare but a superstitious BCCI has asked India's cricketers to stick to the ones they wore during their 50-over World Cup triumph last year as a good-luck charm.

The Indian cricketers sported the new jerseys only last month during a glitzy unveiling ceremony but for the actual event starting tomorrow, they have been told to wear the old design only.

"The players have been asked to wear the jersey they wore during the 2011 World Cup," a BCCI official said. India, the inaugural champions of World T20, could not even reach the semifinals in the 2009 and 2010 editions but given their 50-over World Cup triumph last year, there is considerable hype about them ahead of their year's WT20.

Interestingly, the cricketers were quite happy with the new jersey design when it was unveiled. "Now that we have a different T20 shirt, there will be a strong association between the format and the jersey," skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni had said.

"I play with my heart and I play for the national flag. I like this jersey because the national colours are on my heart," aggressive opener Virender Sehwag had added.

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