Players and fans have urged the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) to retire Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s number seven jersey after the former Indian captain announced his retirement on Saturday. Fans suggested that the player’s number seven jersey should also be retired as a tribute to the former captain.

Dhoni, who won all major ICC tournaments with the national team, announced his retirement on August 15, posting a cryptic message on his Instagram profile, that read “From 1929 hours consider me a retired.” 

The BCCI confirmed the news in a statement: “The boy from Ranchi, who made his ODI debut in 2004, changed the face of Indian cricket with his calm demeanour, sharp understanding of the game and astute leadership qualities.”

Read:MS Dhoni retirement: Five instances when Dhoni lost his cool

Dhoni’s loyal base of 7.8 million Twitter fans along with his other fans from various social media platforms demanded that his jersey be retired, as they did not wish to see the jersey being dawned by another cricketer. Their claim was also voiced by Indian cricketer Dinesh Karthik who tweeted “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.”

Former Indian player Mohammed Kaif too funneled a similar sentiment via his tweet. He said “Can’t imagine any one else wearing a Number 7 India jersey again. Thank you for the unforgettable memories #MSDhoni. See you in UAE.”

Mithali Raj, the Indian women’s ODI team captain also stated that Dhoni had immortalised the number seven jersey. She wrote on Twitter: 

“The man who immortalised jersey no.7, whose sharp mind and a cool head earned him the tag of #CaptionCool , the man who fulfilled billion indian dreams by two World Cup trophies and who bid adieu in his inimitable style. Congratulations #MSDhoni on an outstanding career.” 

While there is no provision for retiring jerseys in cricket, the BCCI had unofficially retired the jersey of batting great Sachin Tendulkar a few years after the Little Master’s retirement.

Read: Dhoni, the ‘Captain Cool’ who lifted all three major ICC tournaments

Dhoni, who led India to glory in the 2007 ICC T-20 World cup and the ICC 2011 World Cup was born on July 7, is also a fan of Portuguese footballer Cristiano Ronaldo, who wears jersey number seven.

While Dhoni has retired from International cricket, the former Indian captain will make his presence felt in IPL-13 that has been scheduled for September.

Dubbed Captain Cool, Dhoni also led his IPL franchise Chennai Super Kings to the crown in 2010, 2011 and 2018. He also secured the Champions Trophy with the team on two occasions. 

Cricketers across the globe took to Twitter to express their gratitude and admiration to the Ranchi-born Indian cricketer on his retirement. Australian cricketer David Warner wrote: “Congrats @msdhoni on a fantastic career, he is one of the coolest guys I’ve played against on the park.” 

Dhoni has scored more than 16,000 runs across formats in his career.