The Indian team took the field yesterday at Dharamsala in their usual blue jersey. But there was something different that stood out. After the three-match Test series against New Zealand, the Indian team had bid adieu to their white kits to become Men in Blue. A perfect occasion for Star Plus to launch their campaign, Nayi Soch. While the team battled it out on the field, off the field, the campaign was battling for recognition for women and the importance of mothers in our lives.
Often people say that one should bring honour to their father’s name, but Ajinkya Rahane makes it loud and clear in the advertisement that it is equally important for him to bring honour to his mother’s name. For Virat, he is as much a Saroj as he is a Kohli. Captain Cool Dhoni answers in his own style. For ages, he was wearing his father’s name on the jersey and now it is time that he wore his mother’s.
When a cricketer makes his debut, his name is flashed with his maiden name being his father’s initials. A practice that has been going on for centuries. The campaign aims at breaking such stereotypes against women. While we know that Ajinkya’s name will be replaced by Sujata, Virat’s by Saroj and Dhoni’s by Devki, what about our other cricketers? Here’s a list of the current crop of Indian cricketers and the jerseys they would be donning.
Rohit Sharma’s jersey number 45 was chosen by his mother and aptly, would have her name Purnima on it. Suresh Raina’s number 3 jersey would have Parvesh while Manish Pandey would be sporting Tara with number 1 on it. Hardik Pandya’s jersey number 228 would have Nalini and Kedar Jadhav’s would have Mandakini with number 81. Ravindra Jadeja’s jersey number 8 would have his late mother’s name, Lata. Pacer Jasprit Bumrah’s jersey would have Daljit with number 93 while off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin’s would have Chitra with number 99. Amit Mishra’s jersey number 9 would have Chandrakala, Axar Patel’s jersey would have Pritiben with number 20 and Umesh Yadav would sport Kishori Devi with number 19.
WATCH: Dhoni’s advertisement for the campaign
(Video Courtesy: YouTube.com/Star Plus)
WATCH: Rahane’s advertisement for the campaign
(Video Courtesy: YouTube.com/Star Plus)
WATCH: Kohli’s advertisement for the campaign
(Video Courtesy: YouTube.com/Star Plus)
As to why the cricketers chose these numbers while making their debut, there’s a story to that as well!
WATCH: Indian cricketers share how they chose their jersey numbers
(Video Courtesy: Facebook/Indian Cricket Team)
