In a fitting homage to former India captain MS Dhoni, the No. 7 jersey will be retired by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). Dhoni, who continues to be India's most successful captain in ICC competitions, came to be associated with the jersey.
Honouring the contributions of ‘Captain Cool’ towards the Men in Blue, the BCCI has added Dhoni’s No. 7 jersey to the list of retired jerseys which already includes India’s cricketing legend Sachin Tendulkar’s No.10 jersey.
It is understood that similar to how no one was permitted to choose the No. 10 jersey, the BCCI has informed players on the Indian squad that they are not permitted to wear the number 7 on their back when wearing the nation's colours. The debutants will not have the option of choosing numbers associated with Tendulkar and Dhoni.
"The young players and current Indian team players have been told not to pick M S Dhoni's Number 7 jersey. The BCCI has decided to retire Dhoni's T-shirt for contributing to the game. A new player can't get No. 7, and No. 10 was already off the list of available numbers," a senior Board official told The Indian Express.
The ICC normally permits players to select any number between 1 and 100, however, there aren't many possibilities available in India.
“At present, 60-odd numbers are designated to the regulars in the Indian team and those in contention. So even if a player is out of the team for about a year or so, we don’t give away his number to a new player. That means a recent debutant has just 30-odd numbers to choose from,” said a BCCI official.
Shardul Thakur, during his early days in the Indian team, wore the No. 10 jersey briefly. However, the number was retired after backlash from fans.
In the case of the No. 7 jersey, the BCCI acted swiftly and took the number out of other players' reach.
Published 15 December 2023, 05:38 IST