Former India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni revealed the reason behind donning the number 7 jersey since the start of his career. Dhoni has been wearing the number 7 jersey in every format of the game be it at the international level of franchise league. He has made no. 7 very iconic with his cricketing achievements. Earlier the number 7 jersey used to have a big relevance in football only with players like David Beckham, Raul and Cristiano Ronaldo donning it but MSD has brought it down to cricket also.
Dhoni made his international debut for India in 2004 against Bangladesh wearing the number 7 jersey and after that, he never looked back. The legendary cricketer is the only captain in the history of the game to win all three ICC trophies - the 2007 T20 World Cup, 2011 ODI World Cup, 2013 Champions Trophy. In IPL, Dhoni led the Chennai Super Kings to four titles donning the iconic number 7 jersey.
Talking about his iconic jersey number, Dhoni said he chose it due to his date of birth.
“A lot of people initially thought that 7 is a lucky number for me and all of that. But I chose the number for a very simple reason. I was born on the 7th of July. So it’s the 7th day of the 7th month, that was the reason," MS Dhoni said during a virtual interaction held by India Cements.
The legendary wicketkeeper batter said that several people asked him about the story behind his jersey number and he kept adding versions to it.
“Rather than getting to all the different things as to what number is a good number and all, I thought I will use my date of birth as the number.
“Then whenever people kept asking me, I kept adding to the answer. 81 was the year, 8-1 is again 7, 7 is a very neutral number. People actually kept telling me, I started absorbing it and I started telling it to others in the same way," he added.
Dhoni further said he is not a superstitious person but the number 7 is very close to his heart.
“A lot of people said 7 is a neutral number and even if it doesn’t work for you, it doesn’t really go against you. That also I added to my answer. I am not very superstitious about it, but it’s one number that is close to my heart and I have kept it over the years with me," he added.
The 40-year-old will lead the Chennai Super Kings once again in the upcoming season of the Indian Premier League where his team will start the campaign against Kolkata Knight Riders in the tournament opener on March 26.
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