Shardul Thakur Changes Jersey Number

In a bid to avoid any further controversy on his much-talked about jersey number, India fast-bowler Shardul Thakur has decided to give up on the iconic number 10 jersey. The 26-year old had made his international debut in August this year during the One-Day International series against Sri Lanka but had hogged the limelight for all the wrong reasons.

Proud moment for young @imShard as he receives his ODI cap from @RaviShastriOfc #SLvIND pic.twitter.com/KJdJ88IUu7

— BCCI (@BCCI) August 31, 2017

He did decently with the ball, picking up 1 for 26 in his seven overs, but had faced widespread criticism from fans for wearing the jersey with number 10 which used to be donned by none other than the legendary Sachin Tendulkar.

Since Tendulkar’s retirement, the fans have urged the BCCI to retire the jersey, and as expected, when they saw a debutant wearing that iconic jersey, they lost their cool and did not refrain from venting his frustration. In fact, the matter was so widespread that it even reached the Indian team as Rohit Sharma had also taken a dig at the pacer.

Thakur had revealed that he chose the number 10 jersey because the total of his birth date is 10.  The right-arm pacer was born on 16th October 1991, and if one adds those three digits  (16+10+1991), the total will be 10. But he still faced the flak from the fans when he came out with the same jersey during the last game of the five-match series.

However, it seems the Mumbai star has had enough as he has changed his jersey number to 54. The pacer is a part of the squad for the ongoing ODI series against New Zealand. He did not play the first game but according to Sportstar, he was wearing the new jersey during the practise session.