After Sachin Tendulkar, BCCI to retire MS Dhoni's iconic number 7 jersey

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has reportedly "retired" the iconic number 7 jersey of India's former World Cup-winning captain MS Dhoni. According to a report by The Indian Express, the board has informed the players that they will no longer be able to pick jersey number 7.

The only other Indian cricketer to have been given the honour is Sachin Tendulkar. In 2017, the BCCI decided to put his number 10 jersey off the shelf for the new players. So now, the Indian cricketers will no longer be seen wearing number 7 or 10 jerseys. 

Earlier, Dhoni had revealed that he chose the number 7 because of his birth date (July 7). For Tendulkar's jersey, in 2017, Shardul Thakur came on the field wearing number 10 and was trolled on social media. The BCCI intervened and switched his jersey to number 54.

Why are jersey numbers retired?

Retiring jerseys has been a long tradition in all sports across the globe. It is done to show respect to a player, usually after they leave a team, retire from a sport or die. Once a number is retired, no player is allowed to wear that number.

Usually, in ice hockey and basketball, jerseys are retired and hung in the team's home venue.

Jersey retirements in cricket

In 2014, Cricket Australia retired the jersey number 64 in remembrance of Philip Hughes. Hughes died during a match that year.

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In 2021, the Cricket Association of Nepal retired Paras Khadka's jersey number 77, following his retirement. Khadka is considered to be the most successful captain of the country.

Some iconic jerseys retired in other sports

The first number officially retired by a team in a professional sport was number 6 in 1934. It was of the Toronto Maple Leafs ice hockey player Ace Bailey.

In 1977, New York Cosmos retired jersey number 10 in honour of Brazillian football star Pele.

In 2000, Italian football club Napoli retired jersey number 10 to honour Diego Maradona. His national team, Argentina, however, continues to use the number 10 jersey. Currently, Lionel Messi dons Mradona's jersey number in the national team.

In the same year, Budapest Honved retired jersey number 10 in honour of Ferenc Puskas. Puskas was the top goal scorer in the Hungarian league four times, and in 1948, he was the top scorer in Europe. Currently, the Puskas Award is a coveted prize in football and is given to the best goal of the year.

In 2013, Los Angeles Lakers officially retired Shaquille O'Neal's number 34 jersey.

Interestingly, some teams have also retired jersey number 12 to honour their fans or the "twelfth man".