The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has decided to retire the legendary India captain MS Dhoni’s iconic No 7 jersey. This move makes Dhoni the second player, after Sachin Tendulkar, to have his jersey retired by the BCCI.
This decision comes after three and-a-half years since Dhoni announced his retirement, in August 2020. His final appearance in India’s jersey No 7 was during the 2019 World Cup semi-final against New Zealand in Manchester, England.
Dhoni holds a distinguished place in Indian cricket, being the only captain to secure victories in all three ICC tournaments in the white-ball format. His stellar career saw him accumulate 10,773 runs at an average of 50.57 in 350 ODI matches, with 10 centuries and 73 half-centuries.
In T20Is, Dhoni tallied 1,617 runs in 98 matches, maintaining an average of 37.60 and a strike rate of 126.13. In Test cricket, he amassed 4,876 runs in 97 matches, including six hundreds and 33 fifties, along with 294 dismissals as a wicketkeeper.
While the International Cricket Council (ICC) allows players to choose jersey numbers between 1 and 100, the options are more restricted in India, making the retirement of Dhoni’s No 7 a significant gesture by the BCCI.