Social media users in India were up in arms after the ICC asked the BCCI to keep Dhoni from wearing his wicketkeeping gloves after the insignia on them raised a controversy. Several noted personalities took to Twitter to showcase their support for the former skipper.
“Senior ICC personnel say BCCI has not made any formal request yet but even if they do there is little chance ICC will change stance. If Dhoni allowed, some other player from other country might also want to wear something. The field of play will become a political play field,” tweeted senior sports journalist Boria Majumdar.
This came following the ICC’s request to BCCI to restrain Dhoni from wearing the gloves with the “Balidaan badge”.
“Indian Army has always been independent irrespective of the political party in power. We are proud of them. Lt. Col. @msdhoni has worn the Army insignia as a symbol of pride. Doesn’t hurt anyone’s sentiments, In fact it honours the brave #DhoniKeepTheGlove #WorldCup2019,” said actor Riteish Deshmukh on the social media platform.
Dhoni’s IPL teammate Suresh Raina too took to the microblogging site to say, “While we are on the field, we devote ourselves to our country & we give all we can to make India proud. We all love our country & that’s exactly @msdhoni has done, saluting the sacrifices of our heroes & honouring them. It should be taken as an act of patriotism & not nationalism.”
“In 2016 English cricketers were allowed to wear a poppy to honour n commemorate those who fell in war. The #Balidan badge on @msdhoni ‘s gloves denotes sacrifice of our @adgpi #Para soldiers @imVkohli @BCCI #DhoniKeepTheGlove,” came the statement of BJP MP Rajeev Chandrasekhar.
Responding to the ICC’s request, the BCCI stated that the badge doesn’t make a political or religious statement and thus should be allowed to remain on his gloves. The ICC replied saying that they would consider allowing Dhoni to keep the badge if the BCCI was able to prove that the badge didn’t symbolise anything political or religious.
