The sports fraternity on Friday came out in support of MS Dhoni for wearing the dagger insignia on his wicket-keeping gloves during India's 2019 Cricket World Cup game against South Africa, with Sports Minister Kiren Rijiju urging the BCCI to resolve the issue.
During the match in Southampton on Wednesday, Dhoni's green keeping gloves had a dagger logo embossed, which looked more like an Army insignia.
While his gesture was appreciated by fans, the ICC requested the BCCI to ask Dhoni to remove the sign from the gloves, citing rules that forbid display of messages "which relate to political, religious or racial activities or causes".
However, the BCCI sent a formal request to the ICC for clearance with Committee of Administrators (CoA) chief Vinod Rai insisting that there was nothing commercial or religious about the logo.
Former India football captain Baichung Bhutia, however, believes Dhoni should remove the logo and follow the rules.
"A player should go by the rules and regulations. If it's against that, then Dhoni will have to remove it," Bhutia told a TV channel.
It is learnt that the ICC's Cricket Operations team will now discuss the matter with the World Cup's Event Technical committee and the BCCI will have to prove that the dagger insignia is not military symbolism and only then Dhoni would be allowed to continue sporting it.
Dhoni is an Honorary Lieutenant Colonel in the Parachute Regiment of the Territorial Army and dagger is part of their emblem.
(PTI)
