BCCI unofficially retires the jersey no. 10

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has made an unofficial announcement of retiring the jersey no. 10. This iconic jersey was donned by the legendary Sachin Tendulkar during his playing days for India.

As per the Board, no player can opt for this jersey while playing for India, however, players are allowed to wear it any non-international match. The decision was made in order to avoid any controversies that the players face while electing the jersey.

Shardul Thakur received a rage for wearing the jersey no. 10

No Indian player had gone for the jersey no. 10 since the retirement of Sachin Tendulkar but recently, Shardul Thakur wore it in his international debut while playing in Sri Lanka.

The pacer had received heavy criticism from the fans. Many believed it was a disrespect to Tendulkar and no one should be allowed to wear it again. However, Shardul mentioned that the addition of his birth date resulted in the number 10 and that’s why he opted for it and didn’t mean to hurt the feelings of anyone.

“It unnecessarily creates controversy and players get criticised. So it’s better to retire the number unofficially. Players, though, can wear it when they play for India A or for say a non-international list A match but not during an international,” a BCCI official told Indian Express.

The Master Blaster carried the hopes of the nation for over 2 decades and it’s quite natural for the fans to be agitated by watching his jersey number being taken by someone else. BCCI made the correct move of retiring it to avoid any further controversies.

Tendulkar used to wear the jersey no. 10 while representing Mumbai Indians as well and the IPL franchise, after his retirement in 2013, had retired the jersey. Not just in cricket but in football too, the clubs like Inter Milan and AC Milan had retired numbers 4 and 3 respectively as a tribute to Javier Zanetti and Paolo Maldini.