The cap worn by an international cricketer is much more than just a part of the gear. In Australia, earning the Baggy Green (the cap worn by Test cricketers) is a mark of honour. In most international sides, debutants are presented their Test caps in elaborate ceremonies before the game, often by a prominent former player. Players like
Virat Kohli are so superstitious about their India caps that they refuse to have multiple and keep wearing the original even if it has faded after years of use. So when a team decides to trade their official caps for something else – even for just one game – it is more than just a token gesture. That should tell you the significance of the Indian team wearing camouflage caps in the 3rd ODI against Australia in Ranchi on Friday. The eleven members of the team and the support staff were presented these special camouflage caps – with a BCCI logo in the front – by former captain (and honorary Lt Col in the Territorial Army)
Mahendra Singh Dhoni, as part of Team India’s efforts to pay tribute to the martyrs of the
Pulwama terror attack.
As per sources, the idea for this initiative came from Dhoni, which is why he presented the caps to the team instead of the usual practice of the captain or a former player doing it. “It’s a special cap. It is to pay respect to the martyrs of the Pulwama attack and their families. All the players in the team have decided to donate their match fees for this particular game to the National Defence Fund, and I, as the captain of the team, would urge everyone in the country to do the same, donate in the National Defence Fund and help in the education and well-being of the families and the children of those who lost their lives in the attack. So yes, it’s a very special cap and a very special game indeed,” captain Virat Kohli said in his pre-game interview. BCCI sources say that the team will don these caps for one home game every year from now on to pay respect to the armed forces, similar to the annual Pink Test in Australia and Pink ODI in South Africa, both of which raise awareness about cancer.
Virat Kohli with Glen McGrath
It’s certainly not the first time the team used its on-field appearance to bat for a cause. In January, while participating in the aforementioned Pink Test in Sydney, the team added pink to their gear to show support to the Jane McGrath Foundation, helmed by Australian legend
Glenn McGrath. While the Australian side always wears pink in the Test every year, this was the first time a visiting side also extended their support beyond simply signing caps. Kohli even traded his usual bat for one with a pink handle grip and sticker and wore pink gloves and pads while batting. “When Virat walked out with his pink gear, the pink on his gloves and pads and then his bat, was massive. It’s very humbling that someone like Virat would do that,” McGrath later said.
During the Pink Test in Sydney in Jan, Virat Kohli traded his bat for one with a pink handle grip and sticker to support Jane McGrath Foundation
In October 2016, when the team took the field in the 5th ODI against New Zealand at Vishakhapatnam, their jerseys bore a slightly different look, for they carried not their last names but their mothers’ names on the back. This was part of an initiative to promote representation of women in all spheres of life and to highlight the contribution of mothers. Speaking at the toss, the then Indian captain Dhoni said, “It is an initiative to appreciate the contribution of the moms. It’s often that we don’t often appreciate the mothers’ contribution the same way we have to. It’s good that it has been put on a public platform. Often, we talk about soldiers and we get patriotic before January 26 or August 15 but what’s important is to thank them every day for what they are doing. In the same way, the contribution of mothers should be appreciated on all days.”
The Men in Blue, in 2016, sported their mothers’ names on their jerseys to promote representation of women in all spheres of life
Team India’s activism has even spread to the environmental cause. The jerseys worn by the team in the 2015 World Cup were made of recycled plastic bottles. “I have been told that the one pair of shirt and trousers is made out of 33 plastic bottles in all. We feel socially responsible as a unit wearing this kit and doing our bit for the environment,”
Ravichandran Ashwin had said at the launch of the jersey in January 2015.
Over the years, the team has also worn black armbands during games, usually as tribute to a recently departed. The Indian team started this trend a few years ago, mourning the deaths of former Indian captain the Nawab of Pataudi, coach
Ramakant Achrekar
, and even Australian cricketer Philip Hughes. In August 2018, the black armbands they wore in the 3rd Test against England at Nottingham were to honour, not a cricketer but a statesman. “The Indian Cricket Team is wearing black armbands as a mark of respect to former India captain Shri Ajit Wadekar and former India Prime Minister Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee, who passed away recently,” said the BCCI. The team wore black armbands in the January Pink Test in Sydney also as a mark of respect after the death of coach Ramakant Achrekar.
Over the years, the team has also worn black armbands during games, usually as tribute to a recently departed
Love for the uniformThe idea of wearing the camouflage caps in the Ranchi ODI came from MS Dhoni, an honorary Lt Col in the Territorial Army. “From when I was a young boy, I read books on weapons and tanks and combat. I was so interested in the army. Then later, my profile as an Indian cricketer allowed me access to the real thing so I spent time with soldiers. The result of all this is was that I became an honorary lieutenant colonel,” he had said when being conferred with the rank in 2011. Dhoni isn’t the first Indian cricketer to be given an honorary rank in the Indian armed forces. Kapil Dev was also commissioned as an honorary Lt Col in the Territorial Army in 2008. “I was very happy to play cricket. Now I am equally happy and more proud to wear my country’s Army uniform. I hope and am sure I can serve them to the best of my abilities,” Kapil had said. Similarly, Sachin Tendulkar was conferred with the Indian Air Force’s honorary rank of Group Captain. Another cricketer who has made no secret of his love for the armed forces is
Gautam Gambhir. While the southpaw holds no honorary rank, he made headlines when he adopted the families of the CRPF jawans who lost their lives in a Naxal attack in Sukma in 2017.