A day after former India captain MS Dhoni announced his retirement from international cricket, wicketkeeper-batsman Dinesh Karthik has urged the Board of Control for Cricket in India to retire the number seven jersey as a tribute to the two-time World Cup winning captain.
Taking to Twitter, Karthik posted a picture with Dhoni and said, "Lots of great memories through this journey. I hope the BCCI retire the #7 jersey in white-ball cricket. Good luck with your second innings in life, I’m sure you’ll have a lot of surprises for us there too."
This is the last photo taken after our semis at the World Cup.lots of great memories through this journey. I hope the @bcci retire the #7 jersey in white ball cricket ❤️
— DK (@DineshKarthik) August 16, 2020
Good luck with your second innings in life , I’m sure you’ll have a lot of surprises for us there too 🙂💖 pic.twitter.com/4kX4uPhPOO
Joining the fray was former batsman Mohammad Kaif, who wrote, "Can't imagine anyone else wearing a Number 7 India jersey again."
Cricket, unlike football, has no stipulation of retiring jersey numbers whatsoever, but the BCCI did retire number 10 a few years after Sachin Tendulkar called time on his great career.
Apart from the players, fans too paid their tributes to the glittering career that the former captain enjoyed.
Least we can do 🙌#RetireJersey7 #MSDhoni pic.twitter.com/Zx6Dh7bkok
— Shreyansh Dubey (@Shreyan52871607) August 16, 2020
Dhoni has contributed a lot to Indian cricket ...so as an honour we all dhoni fans request @BCCI to retire jersey no 7 ...#Dhoni #RetireJersey7
— Ram pareek (@Rampareek_) August 16, 2020
This will always stay in our heart..thank you ms❤️🇮🇳 pic.twitter.com/YLfwkV4A6P
#RetireJersey7 The least we can do in return for this legend @msdhoni .. @BCCI @ICC #DhoniRetired #Dhoniforever #Dhonifinishesoffinstyle #Dhoni pic.twitter.com/1jKvCul1p8
— Chris Croning (@ChrisCroning) August 16, 2020
Dear @BCCI just one thing We fans asking, please #RetireJersey7
— Himanshu Kaushik (@ImkHimansh) August 15, 2020
Dhoni retired from Test cricket in 2014 and has been out of action since India's semi-final defeat against New Zealand in last year's World Cup in England, which was, in fact, his 350th ODI.
Feature image courtesy: AFP / Andrew Yates