Shekhar Gupta: It's just not cricket, MS

Dhoni shouldn't take his regiment to the pitch. Sportsmen bring glory for their nations by playing to win, not as ambassadors for their militaries

We cannot question the old truism that while politics divides, sport unites. Even more so in the season of the ICC World Cup, which India has won twice in the past.

There is a qualification to this: It unites, but only the partisan. We as Indians are united behind our team, as are others behind theirs. That’s what brings us to the controversy over Mahendra Singh Dhoni sporting on his big wicket-keeping gloves the “Balidaan” (supreme sacrifice) dagger, the insignia of the Indian Army’s formidable special forces.

The International Cricket Council (ICC), which oversees the game, has objected to this.