Srinagar: In a massive honour for its World Cup winning skipper, BCCI has opted to retire No.7 jersey in a tribute to MS Dhoni.
Dhoni will become second Indian cricketer to have his jersey retired by Cricket board after Sachin Tendulkar’s Jersey No. 10 was retired earlier.
As report said that the BCCI has made the decision to retire his jersey, ensuring that the number 7 jersey will no longer be allocated to any player.
During MS Dhoni’s tenure as the captain of the Indian team, he led them to victory in all major ICC tournaments: the 2007 T20 World Cup, the 2011 ODI World Cup, and the 2013 Champions Trophy.
In his career, Dhoni amassed 10,773 runs at an average of 50.57 in 350 ODI matches for India, including 10 centuries and 73 half-centuries. In T20Is, he scored 1617 runs in 98 matches, with an average of 37.60 and a strike rate of 126.13. Additionally, he accumulated 4876 runs in 97 Test matches, achieving six centuries and 33 fifties, while also making 294 dismissals as a wicketkeeper.
The tradition of retiring jerseys extends beyond cricket to sports like football and basketball. For instance, the Chicago Bulls retired the famous number 23 jersey in honour of Michael Jordan, while the Italian club Napoli did the same with Diego Maradona’s legendary number 10 kit.
Under the International Cricket Council’s (ICC) guidelines, players usually have the freedom to choose any number between 1 and 100 for their jerseys. However, in India, there are certain restrictions on jersey selections.