With Indian cricket fans not liking the fact that Shardul Thakur was handed the No.10 jersey worn by the God of Indian cricket Sachin Tendulkar during his 24-year long career, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has decided to retire the jersey as a tribute to the batting maestro.
A senior BCCI official said that current treasurer Anirudh Chaudhry had written a mail to the senior members requesting them to retire the jersey after Thakur wearing it had caused a backlash.
“Anirudh wrote to the senior members asking them to retire the jersey as the backlash was unwanted. Also, there is no doubt that he is one of the best players to have played the gentleman’s game. It was finally decided that it be retired after consulting a few of the senior players,” he said.
Unlike in football, there is no provision to retire jerseys in ICC guidelines, so the BCCI has decided to unofficially retire Tendulkar's number.
Tendulkar is the benchmark when it comes to batsmen and India skipper Virat Kohli is often compared to him when the Delhi boy breaks a record or creates one. In fact, Kohli himself has time and again said that nobody can be compared to the legend.
"Honestly I feel embarrassed. It is unfair and Sachin can't be compared with anyone. Comparisons are not valid from my end. I have looked up to him but want to be myself and definitely draw inspiration from him. He is two levels above any player. Sachin was born with talent and I had to work for it," Kohli had said in an interview last year.
Coming back to the jersey, Shardul Thakur made his much awaited ODI debut for India against Sri Lanka in the fourth ODI at the R Premadasa Stadium in September, but the fans weren't too happy with him or with the BCCI for that matter. Shardul opted to wear jersey number 10, which Tendulkar used to wear before his retirement, and the Indian cricket fans took to social media to slam the BCCI's decision to let the pacer wear it.
Thakur cleared the air and responded why he chose 10 as his jersey number. In an interview, he revealed the real reason behind his jersey number was numerology. He clarified that 10 was the total of his date of birth as he was born on October 16, 1991
No comments:
Post a Comment