The identity of every sportsman is linked with numbers. More or less, all kind of sports are related to numbers, but the numbers, which is on their back is the most powerful of all. That defines a sportsman. They are generally known with a unique jersey number.
The 1995-1996 World series cup in Australia witnessed the first shirt numbers in International cricket. Some of the great players got to choose their own choice of numbers. Sachin Tendulkar wore 10, Shane Warne 23 and Ricky Ponting wore 14.
The Reason behind the Figures
It might be interesting to know that there are some hidden & some amazing reasons behind the figures. For some, it’s personal, like some milestones achieved, for some it’s date of birth.
Let’s unwind the story behind the jersey numbers of some current Indian Cricketers:
MS Dhoni : Number 7
The star captain was born on July 7th, hence the lucky no. 7 has to go at the back of his jersey. Apart from that, being a huge supporter of Manchester United & David Beckham he has chosen the number 7.
Virat Kohli : Number 18
The “Run Machine” of Indian team wears the jersey number 18 ever since he captained the world cup winning under-19 team.
Yuvraj Singh : Number 12
The cancer survived, the warrior plays with his birth date on his back. Very interestingly, he was born on 12th December, 12 PM.
Rohit Sharma : Number 45
Jersey number 45 shows love for his mother. He feels his mother to be lucky enough for him as he is certainly bringing charm to the team.
Ravichandran Ashwin : Number 99
Some emotional attachment also decides the jersey number for few players. For Ashwin, it’s his school role number, which was 9. Unfortunately while joining Team India it was already booked by Parthiv Patel, hence he had to settle for 99.
Hardik Pandya : Number 228
This young all-rounder has kept 228 for his jersey since he has scored a massive 228 and lead to a dramatic win in an under 16 tournament.
Shikhar Dhawan : Number 25
Sikhar Dhawan uses this number on his back as it is his family’s lucky number
Ajinkya Rahane : Number 9
He is one more Indian player who considers his favourite number to be 9.
Thus every figure has its story.
