The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has reportedly decided to retire the Number 7 jersey as a tribute to MS Dhoni, who wore it for 16 years while playing cricket for the national team.
Dhoni last played for India in 2019 and retired from all forms of international cricket in August 2020.
This is the second time that the Indian cricket board has retired a specific jersey number after that of icon Sachin Tendulkar’s No 10. Tendulkar’s jersey was retired in 2017 in the wake of massive trolling that Shardul Thakur faced for wearing it in one of the matches.
Indian Express reports that BCCI has already told the young and current players that jerseny number 7 is no more available to be picked. “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,” a senior Board official told the newspaper.
ICC allows cricketers to pick any number from 1 to 100 to be on the back of their jerseys. When a fresher is picked in the national team, he or she is asked which number does he or she want on their back. If the number is available, it is given to that player. For example, Shubman Gill wanted the number 7 on his back during the U19 World Cup in 2018 but because it was not available, he settled for two 7s. He has 77 on his back, both on India and Gujarat Titans (GT) jerseys.
“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 BCCI official had further told IE.
Earlier this year, Yashasvi Jaiswal wanted to play for India with number 19 on his back. However, that number is with Dinesh Karthik currently. He is inactive and not part of the national team but the number will be available only when Karthik retires from all forms of international cricket. Jasiwal opted for number 64 when he was not given the number 19.
