Cricket World Cup 2023: Why Shubman Gill Wears Jersey Number 77 And Not His Lucky 7?

Shubman finally breaks silence on why he wears jersey number 7. The opening batter says he wanted the number 7. But it was not available for him to take it.

Shubman Gill. (Source: ANI)

Shubman Gill has an interesting story on how he got the jersey number 77 on his India jersey. The opening batter of the Indian cricket team is currently getting starts in the Cricket World Cup 2023 but is unable to replicate them to a big score. As per reports, Shubman has been working hard to get his mojo back and get back among big runs. In 2023, the 24-year-old has already smashed five centuries in ODIs, including the double century vs New Zealand. He was in ominous touch in the Asia Cup and expect him to come back to form when India play Sri Lanka on November 2 in Mumbai. 

Recently, while speaking to Star Sports, Shubman revealed the story of getting the jersey number 77 and how he continues to play with it. Shubman said that he has asked for his lucky number 7 but did not get it. Hence, he added one more 7 to it and made it 77. 

#TeamIndia will be wearing Black Armbands in memory of the legendary Bishan Singh Bedi before the start of play against England in the ICC Men's Cricket World Cup 2023.#CWC23 | #MenInBlue | #INDvENG

— BCCI (@BCCI) October 29, 2023

"When I was playing the U19 World Cup, I wanted the number 7 but it was not available to I took two 7s," said Shubman. We wonder why the number '7' was not available. Thenumber 7 has earned a cult status because former India captain MS Dhoni wore it. Now that he has retired, Shubman can still wear it. But why he is not wanting the 7 now? Maybe because he does think too much about it and is happy to play with whatever number is on his back. Or BCCI have already retired that number like they did for Sachin Tendulkar's 10 or maybe are thinking to do it.  

The emerging India star also said that his current favourite cricketer is Virat Kohli but when he was growing up, he idolised the great Sachin Tendulkar. Shubman also told the world about his nickname at the Gill household and it is 'Kaka',  Punjabi word for 'baby'. 

Currently, Shubman is not even in the top 25 batters of the World Cup, a list that includes the likes of Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli and KL Rahul. Shubman did not have a great start to the World Cup. He fell prey to dengue and took almost ten days to recover from it. He made his comeback vs Pakistan but could not do much with the bat in hand. Since then, Shubman has played continuously for India, opening the innings with Rohit Sharma but has not got a score that is worth telling here. 

He and the Indian team management hope that the drought of runs shortlives and the touch player is back among runs soon. The good thing for him is that his partner at the top Rohit Sharma is in great touch and has made up for all the runs Shubman has failed to make at the start of the innings.