The No 10 jersey will no longer be available for any India cricketer after the Board of Control for Cricket in India decided to retire the number for international matches, reported The Indian Express.

Tendulkar, who retired in 2013 with records of the highest number of runs and centuries in international cricket among others, had worn the No 10 jersey in limited-overs matches for a majority of his 24-year career. He had last worn the jersey in March 2012 when he played his final One-Day International.

No Indian cricketer used the number since then before pace bowler Shardul Thakur picked it for his ODI debut in Colombo this August, the report said. Thakur was in turn trolled on social media for it. Even the Mumbai Indians franchise in the Indian Premier League had retired the No 10 jersey after Tendulkar quit all forms of cricket.

“It unnecessarily creates controversy and players get criticised,” the report quoted a BCCI official as saying, with respect to the reason behind taking the decision. “So it’s better to retire the number unofficially. Players, though, can wear it when they play for India A or for say a non-international list A match but not during an international.”

The report also said that the BCCI consulted with players from the Indian team before taking the decision. Thakur had earlier said that numerology was the reason he picked the number, considering the digits in his date of birth – 16/10/1991 – add up to 10. However, Thakur did not use the number when he returned to the Indian squad during the series against New Zealand in October.