The Board of Control for Cricket in India has reportedly retired former India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s jersey No 7 from the men’s national team.
The Indian Express reported that the national cricket body has informed its players that they will not have the option to choosing the No 7 for their respective jerseys.
This is the second instance of BCCI retiring a jersey number. They had previously stopped issuing No 10 to cricketers in the men’s Indian team in the honour of Sachin Tendulkar in November 2017.
Current India all-rounder Shardul Thakur had briefly been assigned the No 10 jersey, but was made to switch to No 54, which he continues to use.
The International Cricket Council allows a player to choose any number from 1 to 100 to be printed on their jersey. But the options are usually limited for rising Indian cricketers as around 60 numbers have reportedly been designated to the regular players and those in contention. The BCCI, in addition, tends not to assign a number already in use by a player who has been out of the team even for a year, to anyone else.
Retiring jersey numbers is not something new in the world of sports. In basketball, Chicago Bulls retired jersey No 23 in honour of Michael Jordan, while Kobe Bryant’s jersey No 8 and 24 were retired by the Los Angeles Lakers.
In Italian football, Napoli retired the No 10 jersey in honour of club legend Diego Maradona, while AC Milan retired the No 3 and No 6 jerseys worn by Paolo Maldini and Franco Baresi respectively.
Back in 2014, Cricket Australia had retired jersey No 64 in remembrance of Phillip Hughes, who tragically lost his life after being hit on the head by a bouncer from Sean Abbott during a Sheffield Shield match.