Follow UsAccording to a report in the Indian Express, the Board of Control for Cricket in India has ‘retired’ the iconic No. 7 jersey as a tribute to MS Dhoni for his contribution to Indian cricket.
The wicketkeeper-batter from Jharkhand, who last played an international game in 2019, becomes the second Indian player after Sachin Tendulkar (No. 10 jersey - retired in 2017) to be given the same honour.
Under his leadership, India won the 2007 T20 World Cup, the 2011 ODI World Cup and the 2013 Champions Trophy. India also became the top-ranked Test side for the first time under his captaincy.
The Indian Cricket Board has informed the current and upcoming players in the national team that they won’t have the option of picking numbers associated with Tendulkar and Dhoni.
“The young players and current Indian team players have been told not to pick MS Dhoni’s Number 7 jersey. The BCCI has decided to retire Dhoni’s T-shirt for his contribution to the game. A new player can’t get No. 7, and No. 10 was already off the list of available numbers,” said a senior Board official.
“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.”
As a result, Yashasvi Jaiswal couldn’t get No. 19 because that particular number is still associated with cricketer-turned-commentator Dinesh Karthik. The latter hasn’t played for India for more than a year and it’s highly unlikely that the 38-year-old will make a comeback.
This has been happening across all sports. The Chicago Bulls retired their No. 23 jersey as a tribute to Michael Jordan. Meanwhile, the Italian Serie A football club Napoli have done the same with their No. 10 jersey for Diego Maradona.
Bill Russell (No. 6) and Paolo Maldini (AC Milan No. 3) are some of the other players with the same honour.