In a beautiful tribute to India’s paramilitary forces, MS Dhoni sported the regimental dagger also known as the Army Insignia or ‘Balidaan’ badge on his gloves, during India’s World Cup opener against South Africa on Wednesday. The 37-year-old’s heartwarming gesture went viral in no time as people found one more reason to respect the legendary skipper.
.@msdhoni paid tribute to the Indian Para Special Forces during the #CWC19 encounter against South Africa 💙#EkCupAur #SAvIND #CricketWorldCup2019 pic.twitter.com/Q8e6BceB2P
— CricketNext (@cricketnext) June 5, 2019
However, the apex body in cricket, the ICC has now expressed a problem with the 37-year-old wearing the special gloves in the team’s inaugural encounter. The ICC has stated that Dhoni’s decision to wear the insignia gloves did not abide by the ICC’s Clothing and Equipment Rules and Regulations under G 1 and hence, the BCCI must ask the veteran player to remove the symbol from his equipment.
The rule says,
“Players and team officials shall not be permitted to wear, display or otherwise convey messages through arm bands or other items affixed to clothing or equipment (“Personal Messages”) unless approved in advance by both the player or team official’s Board and the ICC Cricket Operations Department. Approval shall not be granted for messages which relate to political, religious or racial activities or causes.”
But what is to be noted is the fact that Dhoni donned the badge as a mark of respect towards the armed forces who risk their lives to protect the country. And hence, no political, religious or racial message was being conveyed through his gesture. Also, the Indian team was allowed to wear camouflage caps a few months ago as a tribute to the Pulwama martyrs, which was a similar expression.
ICC’s statement sparked massive outrage among the Indian fans as they came together to stand by their idol. #DhoniKeepTheGlove is trending on Twitter and that fans are speaking of boycotting the World Cup.
Dear @BCCI if the @ICC Forcing to remove balidan from dhoni ji gloves, it's better to boycott the tournament and come to India we will play another IPL series
We don't want this tournament. We love our country pride more than a tournament.#boycottworldcup #DhoniKeepTheGlove
— Tejeswer🇮🇳 (stay home stay safe) (@Narahari55) June 7, 2019
Indian viewers should boycott watching these WC games altogether, if Dhoni is not allowed to wear his gloves in the next game.Also ENG should be asked to get rid of the '3 lions' symbol on their shirt which signifies sacrifice of the armed forces. @ICC @BCCI #DhoniKeepTheGlove
— 🐝🐝QueenB🐝🐝 (@artemis_ari) June 7, 2019
https://twitter.com/ranjitpk123/status/1136810666726084608?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1136810666726084608&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.news18.com%2Fnews%2Fbuzz%2Findians-call-for-cricket-world-cup-boycott-after-icc-asks-dhoni-to-remove-army-insignia-gloves-2175505.html
https://twitter.com/Jayaa_IND/status/1136679257214554113?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1136679257214554113&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.news18.com%2Fnews%2Fbuzz%2Findians-call-for-cricket-world-cup-boycott-after-icc-asks-dhoni-to-remove-army-insignia-gloves-2175505.html
https://twitter.com/VikasAgarwalBJP/status/1136695543600566272?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1136695543600566272&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.news18.com%2Fnews%2Fbuzz%2Findians-call-for-cricket-world-cup-boycott-after-icc-asks-dhoni-to-remove-army-insignia-gloves-2175505.html
Sorry #ICC. I stand with Ms Dhoni.
This Balidan symbol is nothing to do with cricket game.. #DhoniKeepTheGlove pic.twitter.com/QnetFoWERG— Tweetera🐦 (@DoctorrSays) June 6, 2019
https://twitter.com/asutosh007/status/1136681607903842305?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1136681607903842305&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.news18.com%2Fnews%2Fbuzz%2Findians-call-for-cricket-world-cup-boycott-after-icc-asks-dhoni-to-remove-army-insignia-gloves-2175505.html
The nation stands with you #DhoniKeepTheGlove pic.twitter.com/SYh25Eg4PJ
— Sash (@Sash76273512) June 6, 2019
Dear Lt Col @msdhoni
You are an officer of Para Regt. Don’t take off those gloves. Balidaan is a badge of honour. It’s represents the finest of Indian Army. I have always looked at that badge with awe & respect. The nation stands with you.
Jai Hind#dhonikeeptheglove
— Narender sharma (@Narendersharma) June 7, 2019
Shame ICC can't we take our symbols which already in heart on body too..do u want indians to. boycott worldcup..imagine than who loss this worldcup 😉#DhoniKeepTheGlove
— _theSarcasticdesh_joshi (@SudeshJoshi13) June 6, 2019
https://twitter.com/S23skS/status/1136803981303246848?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1136803981303246848&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.news18.com%2Fnews%2Fbuzz%2Findians-call-for-cricket-world-cup-boycott-after-icc-asks-dhoni-to-remove-army-insignia-gloves-2175505.html
https://twitter.com/sushantkr_sinha/status/1136793205037338624?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1136793205037338624&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.news18.com%2Fnews%2Fbuzz%2Findians-call-for-cricket-world-cup-boycott-after-icc-asks-dhoni-to-remove-army-insignia-gloves-2175505.html
Every Indian worth his salt should support Dhoni by boycott of @cricketworldcup and @BCCI #DhoniKeepTheGlove
— S Dutt (@sunilduna) June 6, 2019
https://twitter.com/RaivatShah/status/1136804105374949377?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1136804105374949377&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.news18.com%2Fnews%2Fbuzz%2Findians-call-for-cricket-world-cup-boycott-after-icc-asks-dhoni-to-remove-army-insignia-gloves-2175505.html
https://twitter.com/sheksol/status/1136667592750292994?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1136667592750292994&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.news18.com%2Fnews%2Fbuzz%2Findians-call-for-cricket-world-cup-boycott-after-icc-asks-dhoni-to-remove-army-insignia-gloves-2175505.html
It actually doesn’t matter if Dhoni removes the badge from the gloves or not, because his love for the army will always be constant.