Cricket is not just a game, it is a religion. I can’t emphasize on this enough because there aren’t enough words to explain it aptly, especially cricket in India. More than the game itself, the players are known and loved for their skills, winning streaks and captaincy.
Speaking of captaincy, the first name to pop in our heads is none other than our Captain Cool, MS Dhoni. He has been known for his leadership par excellence and on-field tactics, besides the amazing way he supports the players. Just when I think I have enough reasons to love and respect him, now he has given us one more.
Many players of the Indian cricket team, including Virat Kohli, wear the Indian flag on their helmets as a sign of their pride in their country and their role in the team. MS Dhoni, however, doesn’t follow this tradition.
According to a Quora user’s theory, he doesn’t prefer wearing the flag on his helmet because Dhoni is a wicketkeeper, which requires him to keep switching between a hard helmet and a cap.
Read his full post here:
For the respect of the Flag.
MS is a wicketkeeper who very often needs to change from wearing a simple hat to a hard helmet. He cannot always call someone from the dugout to supply him these things every now and then. That’s to save time and also just because a player is not there in the team’s playing XI does not mean he will carry hats and helmets all the time.
So a wicketkeeper very often has to keep the helmet someplace back in the distance when he does not wear it.
A National flag is a symbol of great honour and respect, so it can’t be placed on the ground as the law states. That’s a true conduct, you can Google it. Hence either you don’t put the helmet with Flag on the ground or don’t put the Flag on the helmet at all.
Dhoni is also an army officer, so he must abide by this even more religiously. Cricketers or public figures like this are Great examples to be followed by a nation. So he is just setting a good example for everyone to follow as well.
Many times, he is also required to keep the helmet on the field behind him.
The tradition of putting the Indian flag on the helmet was started by Sachin Tendulkar. Despite the criticism he received, he continued to wear the flag above the BCCI logo on his helmet. Pretty soon, players like Virat Kohli, Shikhar Dhawan, Yuvraj Singh and Rohit Sharma also followed suit.
MS Dhoni has often said that he would have joined the Indian Army if he hadn’t succeeded in his cricket career. It seems only understandable, then, that he chooses to respect the flag by carrying it in his heart and not on his helmet.
Always the Captain Cool, Dhoni, we love you!