5 cricketers whose jerseys should be retired

On Wednesday, the BCCi decided to "unofficially" retire the jersey of Indian batting great Sachin Tendulkar.

A furore was created in September when fast bowler Shardul Thakur was seen wearing the iconic number on his jersey, but since that day, he has been seen wearing the number 54 on his back in a few warm-up matches.

We look at five other greats of the game, who could also have their jerseys retired:

5. Virat Kohli

Ever since the 29-year-old began to play for India in limited-overs cricket from his Under-19 days, under his name behind his jersey, the number '18' has remained constant.

The reason for Kohli to pick that number was because his father passed away on the 18th of December 2006. At the time of his father's passing, the right-hander was of the same age as well.

Since his breakthrough limited-overs hundred against Sri Lanka in Kolkata, the Delhi-based cricketer has evolved himself into a modern-day great in coloured clothing, winning matches almost single-handedly for his country.

His tally of 32 ODI hundreds is second only to Sachin Tendulkar and if he continues his hunger for the three-figure mark, he might well break his record in a few years time.

It would only be fitting if the number belonged to Kohli, post his retirement from cricket.

4.Kumar Sangakkara

Sangakkara wore the number 11 on his back for most part of his career

Arguably Sri Lanka's greatest batsman in all-forms of cricket, Kumar Sangakkara's jersey number during his career remained '11'.

According to numerology, the number 11 is associated with wisdom.

The left-hander was the lynchpin in the Lankan batting line-up, with an appetite for big scores, which would invariably put his side in a strong position in the game.

Up until his last limited-overs competition- the 2015 World Cup- he hammered attacks all over the world, scoring four consecutive hundreds, before the team's exit in the quarter-final stage of the competition.

While many Lankan players have not had their jersey numbers retired, Sangakkara is surely one of the deserving candidates to have the number 11 made his own.

3.Ricky Ponting

Ponting wore the jersey number of 14 almost all his career

The most successful Australian captain and arguably the greatest Number 3 to play the game, it would be hard to ignore Ricky Ponting if there is a debate on the greatest players who played the game of cricket.

During the course of his 17-year limited-overs career, the right-hander had the digits '14' on the back of his jersey, as he went about his business of plundering bowling attacks all around the world.

The only captain after Clive Lloyd to win the back-to-back 50-over World Cups, Ponting has never made it clear what the number 14 meant, but if there was one recently-retired Australian player who deserves his jersey number to be retired, it would be him.

2.AB de Villiers

de Villiers has been wearing the number on his back for a long time=

If a popularity check were done in India for who is considered the favourite overseas cricketer by the Indian public AB de Villiers will rank high on that list, if not finish on top.

The South African right-hander, who made his ODI debut in 2004, has always worn the number '17' on his back, while playing for the Proteas.

According to a report on The Hindu, the 33-year-old wears the number on his back because he was born on the 17th of February 1984, and made his Test debut against England on the 17th of December 2004.

AB de Villiers will go down as one of the best cricketers that South Africa has ever produced and once he is done with the game, one hopes that his jersey number is retired as well.

1.MS Dhoni

Dhoni has worn the number on his back since he started playing

If there is one cricketer after Sachin Tendulkar who deserves his jersey number to be retired once he quits the game, it is Mahendra Singh Dhoni.

Ever since representing India for the first time in 2004, the 35-year-old has been seen with the number '7' on his back whenever he donned the coloured clothing for India.

There are varied reasons behind him having the number behind his back.

Few believe that it is because his birthday falls on the 7th of July, while others say it is because he was inspired by some of the greatest Manchester United players who have succeeded after wearing that number on their jersey.

Whatever maybe the reason, the number has proven to be extremely successful for him and Indian cricket and it would be fitting to the legend if the number is retired after he calls it quits from the game.