ICC Cricket World Cup 2019: ICC double standards exposed by MSD fiasco

London: At a time when all the focus should have been on the World Cup, the International Cricket Council (ICC) decided to pay attention to MS Dhoni’s wicketkeeping gloves. It all started when the cameras focused at Dhoni’s gloves during India’s World Cup opener against South Africa. Dhoni was sporting the “insignia” gloves.

Dhoni’s wicketkeeping gloves had the symbol of regimental dagger insignia of the Indian Para Special Forces. The “Balidaan Badge” or the Army insignia was spotted on Dhoni’s gloves as television replays showed him stumping Andile Phehlukwayo in the 40th over of the innings. As soon as the picture came out, fans across the country lauded Dhoni for the gesture.

The curious case of Cotterell
Defenders of the ICC may want to take a position that the cricketing body is playing by the rulebook and rules are above everything. However, the rules just cannot justify the ICC’s decision to prevent Dhoni from showing his love for the Indian Army. If such is the case, the esteemed administrators of the ICC should first ban Sheldon Cottrell from saluting after taking every wicket. The West Indies pacer has himself revealed that he salutes on the field to show respect to defence forces, of which he’s part of.

The Poppy case
But then ICC has always treated India differently. Going down the memory lanes, one can pick out an incident from 2016 when ICC had ditched their rule books to allow England players to wear kit with a poppy stitched on so that Alastair Cook & Co. could pay tribute to the English soldiers.

While FIFA, the governing body of football, had not allowed the England football team to do the same, the ICC had decided otherwise. Consequently, during the first Test in India, England’s players had observed a minute’s silence and wore poppies on the collars of their shirts.

Offering on-field prayers
Pakistan or Afghanistan players offering their prayers on the field has never been objected by the ICC. The ICC have also not objected to the use of numerous use of religious words by the players of these two nations while giving interviews on the field. One can now just ask why Dhoni’s love for Army was made such a big issue and he was eventually banned from wearing his gloves.

MSD to tape gloves
It is believed that Dhoni is likely to continue to wear the same gloves but cover the insignia with tape.

Of what Sakal Times has learnt, In its email to the BCCI, the ICC explained that Dhoni had violated the G1 clause in of its clothing and equipment regulations. The clause reads: “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.”

No symbols that resemble the official insignias or logos of the military can be flaunted by people publicly. In fact, section 140 of the Indian Penal Code makes it a punishable offence attracting three-month imprisonment or a fine of Rs 500 or both.

BCCI pitches in
As per the rules, Dhoni would be reprimanded if he wore the gloves with the insignia on Sunday, when India face Australia in their second group match. The second offence, in case it took place within 12 months, would attract a fine of 25% of the match fee. A third offence would mean a 50% fine of the match fee, and a fourth would see the player losing 75% of his match fee.

Making the issue more complex was the Indian government’s support for Dhoni’s gloves. India’s sports minister Kiren Rijiju told the news agency ANI: “The government doesn’t intervene in affairs of sports bodies. But when the issue is related to the country’s sentiments, then the interest of the nation has to be kept in mind. I would like to request BCCI to take up the matter with ICC.”

Well, one just cannot do anything apart from criticising ICC for their double-standards but it is high time the administrators change their stance and not kill the sentiments of the fans.