Why MS Dhoni Was Not Allowed to Wear The Insignia in The World Cup – Ex-CoA Chief Vinod Rai Explains

Rai states that he wanted Dhoni to wear it, but it was the ICC rules that permitted Dhoni from doing so. 

Mumbai: It is no secret that MS Dhoni is a massive admirer of the Indian army. Time and again, he has been spotted spending time with the Indian forces when on a break, playing with them, singing for them and living the hard army life. The ex-Indian captain, who often wore the insignia badge in his gloves while playing for India in a bid to pay tribute to the soldiers, was not allowed to don the insignia during the 2019 World Cup in England by the ICC.

Former Committee of Administrators (CoA) chief Vinod Rai has finally broken his silence over what stopped Dhoni from wearing the insignia. Rai states that he wanted Dhoni to wear it, but it was the ICC rules that permitted Dhoni from doing so.

In an interaction on Backstage With Boria, Rai says: “I feel it was a small insignia and he should be entitled to wear it, there are no two ways about it. In the beginning we backed him, we totally backed him. But then, unfortunately, I found there were 11 pages of ICC rules which went into details of what a player can wear and what the player cannot wear. The gloves were also included in those 11 pages. Now, once there is a regulation, I do not want the team to be going against that. That is when we told him that we are there with you 100 per cent, but you have to see it is in writing. That is how we persuaded them to stay away from it.”

Meanwhile, Dhoni – who has retired from international cricket – is featuring in the IPL for Chennai Super Kings. In a few moments from now he would be playing an IPL match against Hyderabad.