The list of retired jersey numbers in cricket received its latest entrant in the form of Mahendra Singh Dhoni earlier in the day. The decision has been taken as a mark of respect for the two-time World Cup-winning captain.
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Second Indian cricketer whose iconic jersey won’t be up for grabs in the future, Dhoni has become the 12th cricketer overall to have been bestowed with this honour. Dhoni, who donned Jersey No. 7 throughout a glorious career spanning across a decade and a half, did so because his birthday falls on July 7, i.e., seventh day of the seventh month.
Veteran Indian wicket-keeper Dinesh Karthik, who played more than half of his international matches across formats in Dhoni’s presence, was perhaps the first notable personality to come with the suggestion of retiring jersey No. 7 in spite of his career getting largely affected by the man wearing it. Part of the Indian Playing XI’s during Dhoni’s last international match as well, Karthik had said the same a day after the former’s retirement from the highest level.
As is the case with anything big, or even remotely trivial, with regard to Dhoni, “MS Dhoni Jersey Number 7 Retired” gained immense traction throughout the day across social media platforms.
Since a governing board (or club) of any said sport is the concerned authority with respect to retiring a jersey, BCCI (Board of Control for Cricket in India) took this particular decision as later confirmed by vice-president Rajeev Shukla.
Retired Jersey Numbers In Cricket
Late Australian batter Philip Hughes was the first cricketer honoured in this regard. His unfortunate death due to subarachnoid hemorrhage after getting hit during a cricket match in 2014 led CA (Cricket Australia) to retire his Jersey No. 64.
Master Blaster Sachin Tendulkar‘s Jersey No. 10 jersey was first retired by Indian Premier League franchise Mumbai Indians, for which he played between 2008-2013. BCCI, however, retired it in 2017.
Post ICC Cricket World Cup 2019, NZC (New Zealand Cricket) retired former captain Daniel Vettori‘s jersey number. Vettori, who played 437 matches for the country across formats, was their most capped cricketer at the time. In the same development, NZC became the first international cricket board to have a set criteria before retiring former players’ jerseys.
Having also retired the jerseys of Stephen Fleming (279), Brendon McCullum (260), Chris Harris (250), Ross Taylor (236), Nathan Astle (223) and Chris Cairns (214), NZC made it a point to retire jerseys of all players who have played 200 or more ODIs for the Black Caps.
CAN (Cricket Association of Nepal) has also retired the Jersey No. 77 in honour of their most successful captain Paras Khadka. In the 10 ODIs and 33 T20Is that Khadka played for Nepal, he became their first player to score a century in both the white-ball formats.
Although not by CA, late legendary spinner Shane Warne, too, had his Jersey No. 23 retired by Big Bash League franchise Melbourne Stars. Warne, who is the second-highest wicket-taker in international cricket, represented Stars in the first two seasons of the BBL. Interestingly, former Australian captain Michael Clarke, who led them to a victorious ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 camapaign at home, was ” forever grateful” to Warne for handing him his No. 23 jersey.
Is Jersey No 10 Retired In Cricket?
As mentioned above, Tendulkar’s jersey has been retired but not from international cricket involving all teams. Such a thing can only happen concerning a country. Therefore, a non-Indian cricketer can still don a No. 10 jersey at the highest level.
Indian bowling all-rounder Shardul Thakur, who made his ODI debut against Sri Lanka in 2017, was not only wearing the No. 10 jersey but also got heavily trolled for the same. While Thakur eventually changed the number of his jersey, current Indian captain Rohit Sharma made it a point to remind Thakur of his unintentional mistake on his 28th birthday four years ago.
South African batter David Miller and Pakistani fast bowler Shaheen Shah Afridi are two current cricketers who wear Jersey No. 10. Furthermore, retired cricketers namely Shahid Afridi, Allan Donald, Craig McMillan, Geraint Jones and Stuart Law were some of the other cricketers who used to wear this jersey number in the past.
