The game of cricket has seen plenty of players who have graced the game. While there have been individuals who have had their own superstitions, some have extended that to the numbers of the jerseys that they wear. Here are some of the unusual jersey numbers:
Hardik Pandya:
Riding a wave of confidence post his heroic effort in the Champions Trophy Final, Hardik Pandya has a very unique number on his back: 228. The all-rounder made his debut against the Aussies in 2016. The reason behind the number is that Pandya’s highest score was 228. He achieved the feat in an Under-16 match for Baroda.
His score allowed him and his team chase a total in excess of 350; a position they capitalized on from a difficult start.
Chris Gayle:
Another sensation when it came to big-hitting, Chris Gayle is also the wearer of the 333 Jersey number. The reason behind the special number is that it is his highest individual score in Test cricket – achieving the feat against the Sri Lankans.
Gayle didn’t stop there however. He changed his number to an even more fancy 175 after he broke the record for the highest individual score in a T20 game. Lavish.
Marlon Samuels:
Samuels is another popular West Indian player who just loved the big occasion. He did have a long career with the West Indies and though they are now disputing with the board, he did have some memorable moments. One such instance was him stepping out into the field donning the jersey number: 730.
During his time off due to allegations of match fixing, Samuels appeared for the Bangladesh Premier League team Duronto Rajsahi. He wore the jersey number as a reminder to everybody of the number of days he spent out of the West Indian team.
Muttiah Muralitharan:
The legendary Sri Lankan spinner did wear the number 8 throughout his illustrious career bowling for the team. He broke plenty of records on the way and the one that he will be most proud of is the 800 wickets he took in Test cricket, propelling him to all-time greatness.
Muralitharan appeared for a few T20 teams post his retirement and he played with the unique number before retiring entirely from the game.
Herschelle Gibbs (00, 01…09):
Herschelle Gibbs is regarded as one of South Africa’s greatest batsmen ever and had a long albeit controversial career for the Proteas. He had a tradition of wearing jersey numbers in correspondence to the last two digits of the year.
He would wear 05 in 2005, 06 in 2006, 07 in 2007 and so on. When he played for the Mumbai Indians, he wore the number 74, which represents the year he was born in.
Morne Morkel:
The big South African bowler wears the number 65 on his back and has destroyed plenty of opposition with his bowling. The reason behind his number is a quirky one that has nothing to with the year of birth or highest score.
Morkel wears the number 65 because it’s the exact measurement of his height, which is a massive 6’5’’. Talk about tall.
By Rohit Nair
