Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on Friday backed former captain MS Dhoni’s decision to sport ‘Balidaan Badge’ on his wicket-keeping gloves.
Supreme Court-appointed Committee of Administrators (COA) chief Vinod Rai confirmed on Friday that BCCI has written a letter to the International Cricket Council seeking permission for Dhoni to wear the gloves with the Army badge.
The CoA’s intervention has come after a huge social media outrage on ICC’s objections.
Meanwhile, IPL chairman Rajeev Shukla also supported Dhoni saying that the former skipper had not violated any norm of the International Cricket Council (ICC) by sporting the badge.
On Thursday, the ICC had requested BCCI to get the ‘Balidaan Badge’ symbol removed from Dhoni’s wicket-keeping gloves.
According to ICC, the logo on the captain’s gloves violates the ICC clothing and equipment regulations, which allow only sponsor logos on them.
The ICC equipment and clothing regulations do not permit the display of messages that relate to political, religious or racial activities or causes during an international match, according to an ESPNcricinfo report.
Dhoni was spotted with the regimental dagger insignia- ‘Balidaan Badge’ during India’s opening match against South Africa on Wednesday.
Balidan is a distinct insignia of the special forces, which form part of the Parachute Regiment. It has a commando dagger pointed downwards, with upward-extending wings extending from the blade and a scroll superimposed on the blade with “Balidan” inscribed in Devanagari.
This particular insignia – “Balidaan”, meaning sacrifice can only be worn by paramilitary commandos.
Dhoni was conferred an honorary rank of Lieutenant Colonel in the Parachute Regiment in 2011 and also had undergone training under the Para Brigade in 2015.
Earlier in March, the Indian players wore special Army caps to pay respect to those armymen who lost their lives in the Pulwama terror attacks during the third ODI against Australia in Ranchi.
Dhoni had presented his teammates with the caps before the start of the match. The players’ earnings from the match went to the families of the martyrs.
At that time, the ICC cleared the jerseys as part of charity fund-raising effort.
