Will he or won’t he? India is insistent Dhoni keeps wearing controversial gloves but ICC refuses to budge

LONDON: When India take the field in their World Cup game against Australia here at The Oval on Sunday, all eyes would be on one man. In fact all eyes will be on that one man’s wicket-keeping gloves.

MS Dhoni, the former Indian captain and veteran stumper, is at the centre of a major controversy after his move to wear military insignia on his wicket-keeping gloves.

He did that in India’s World Cup game against South Africa. Dhoni’s gloves had the symbol of regimental dagger insignia of the Indian Para Special Forces. The “Balidaan Badge” or the Army insignia was spotted on his gloves as TV replays showed him stumping Andile Phehlukwayo in the 40th over of the innings.

The International Cricket Council (ICC) responded by saying that Dhoni will have to remove the military insignia from his wicket-keeping gloves as its against regulations that govern ICC events.

The Indian cricket Board (BCCI) tried to convince ICC to allow Dhoni to keep wearing the military insignia on his wicketkeeping gloves but the game’s governing body refused to budge.

It told the BCCI that the logo displayed by Dhoni in the previous match is not permitted to be worn on his wicket-keeping gloves at the World Cup 2019.

“The regulations for ICC events do not permit any individual message or logo to be displayed on any items of clothing or equipment. In addition to this, the logo also breaches the regulations in relation to what is permitted on wicketkeeper gloves,” the ICC said in a statement.

When asked to comment on whether Dhoni has been told (by India) not to wear the military insignia on his wicket-keeping gloves during Sunday’s game, Indian vice captain Rohit Sharma refused to make any comment on the issue. “I have no idea about it, honestly. I’m not the captain so I don’t anything know about it,” he told reporters.

Rohit’s refusal to confirm or deny whether Dhoni will defy the ICC orders only added more suspense to the story.

Well-placed sources told ‘The News’ that a final decision on whether Dhoni will continue wearing the controversial gloves will only be taken by the BCCI.

At a time when nationalist sentiment is on a high in India, there is a lot of support for Dhoni. In fact most Indians, it seems, want Dhoni to keep wearing the military insignia on his wicketkeeping gloves in the World Cup.

The outright public back home support could persuade the BCCI to push its weight behind Dhoni and see how the ICC responds to it. It is quite apparent that the ICC will have to penalise Dhoni by not just fining him but also slapping him with demerit points. It remains to be seen whether things will come down to that.