After intense debates and deliberations and a lot of speculations, the International Cricket Council (ICC) has finally delivered its verdict and MS Dhoni will not be able to sport the 'Balidaan' Indian Army insignia on his gloves during international cricket matches. The ICC has rebuffed BCCI's request to allow the the veteran cricketer to wear wicketkeeping gloves which sport the dagger symbol.
In it's response, ICC explained that the former Indian captain had breached two clauses of the clothing and equipment regulations: one relating to display of "personal messages" and the other concerning the logo on his gloves.
This latest update was followed by a statement by Vinod Rai, chairman of the BCCI's Committee of Administrators, in which he said that the BCCI will not escalate this matter as the ICC had insisted on following the regulations even though the Indian board requested some "flexibility" on the matter.
During the CoA meeting which took place in Mumbai on Friday, one of the members did inform that approval had been sought so that the former Indian captain can continue to wear the gloves with the Army insignia.
"Yes, we are aware of the issue with Dhoni's badge. But this is not a political or religious sentiment and we have requested the ICC to grant permission to Dhoni to sport the badge on his gloves," the COA member said.
The ICC statement
The ICC has responded to the BCCI to confirm the logo displayed by MS Dhoni in the previous match is not permitted to be worn on his wicket-keeping gloves at the ICC Men's Cricket 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.
"Balidaan" is a distinct insignia of the special forces, which is a 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 "Balidaan" inscribed in Devanagari. This can only be used by the Paramilitary Commandos.
