The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has decided to ‘unofficially’ retire the jersey number 10 which was donned by Sachin Tendulkar for several years.
Cricketers are reluctant to wear the jersey out of respect for the master blaster, as per a report in the Deccan Chronicle.
"It's a very individual choice. If players don't want to wear a certain number, one can't force them. ICC might just tell you that a team can't officially retire a jersey but it would never tell you that it's mandatory to wear that number," a BCCI official said.
The number 10 jersey was worn by Sachin throughout his ODI career and for one T20 international.
“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,” said a BCCI official.
After a 24-year playing career, Sachin retired from international cricket in November 2013.
The number 10 jersey was last worn by him in March 2012 in the ODI against Pakistan. It remained unused for five years till Mumbai fast bowler Shardul Thakur wore it in his ODI debut against Sri Lanka in Colombo in August 2017.
Shardul was subjected to trolling on social media and faced a barrage of comments that mocked the player for “trying to be Sachin.”
In an interview later, Shardul explained that it was numerology which made him pick that number. He said the digits of his date of birth (16.10.1991) add up to 28 and 2+8 equals 10.
No jersey number has been retired from international cricket so far, in honour of a player.
Sachin’s IPL team Mumbai Indians though, had retired No.10 in 2013, after he stopped playing all forms of the game.