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After legendary batsman Sachin Tendulkar's signature jersey no. 10 was retired by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) in 2017, the richest cricket board in the world will reportedly bestow a similar honour to former Indian skipper MS Dhoni by retiring his iconic No. 7 retire.
While the Master Blaster hung up his boots from international cricket in 2013 and his jersey was retired after four years, MS Dhoni's No. 10 jersey will reportedly be retired after three years of his retirement from all formats of international cricket in 2020.
According to the Indian Express, the BCCI has informed players in the national team, especially the debutants, that the number 7 and number 10 jerseys, which are associated with Dhoni and Tendulkar respectively, are not available. "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 BCCI official.
The BCCI official also stated that unlike ICC's rule to allow players to pick any jersey number between 1 and 100, the Indian players have limited numbers to pick for their jerseys. The Indian Express quoted a BCCI official saying, "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."
Among the active Indian players, No. 18 and 45 jerseys, which have been worn by Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma, could be the next two jersey numbers from the Indian cricket circuit that could be retired in the future when the two icons end their international duties.
