07 May,2014 01:05 AM IST | | Harit N Joshi
Ever wondered what prompts a cricketer to sport a particular jersey number on his back? For some, these numbers have a special place in their life
RCB's Yuvraj Singh sports jersey No 12 u00c3u00a2u00c2u0080u00c2u0094 his date of birth. Pic/Atul Kamble
Ever wondered what prompts a cricketer to sport a particular jersey number on his back? For some, these numbers have a special place in their life.
RCB's Yuvraj Singh sports jersey No 12 - his date of birth. Pic/Atul Kamble
Take the example of Royal Challengers Bangalore big-hitter Chris Gayle, who sports 333 on his jersey. It is a reminder of the West Indian's triple century against Sri Lanka at Galle in 2010-11 which was the highest score by a Windies batsman outside the Caribbean.
Gayle's RCB teammate Muttiah Muralitharan's jersey number is 800 which serves as a reminder to his world-record wickets in Test cricket. The Sri Lankan spin wizard claimed his 800th Test victim on the last ball of his final Test against India.
Mumbai Indians' pacer Lasith Malinga sports number 99 on his jersey because he was the 99th Test cricketer to debut for Sri Lanka on July 1, 2004 against the Aussies at Marrara Oval.
For India's Yuvraj Singh, it is his birth date - December 12 - that is his jersey number. Ditto with his RCB teammate AB de Villiers, who was born on February 17. So, numbers do play an important role in cricketers' life!
'Fan'tastic idea?
Mumbai Indians were out with a creative idea to make every person that came for yesterday's match against Royal Challengers Bangalore, an MI fan.
To beat the sweltering heat and excruciating humidity, every spectator was given a complimentary hand fan to provide temporary relief. No wonder, all those who entered the Wankhede were delighted by this initiative and were happy to become MI fans.
