Former Indian Cricketer Virender Sehwag made a request to the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI)and its president Jay Shah to make a change in India's jersey for Cricket World Cup 2023. The 2011 World Cup winner Sehwag urged that the name 'India' should be replaced with 'Bharat' on the jersey of the players for the marquee tournament.
Sehwag made his request when he reposted India's team for the World Cup. He said that the players should have 'Bharat' on their chests. "Team India nahin Team Bharat. This World Cup as we cheer for Kohli, Rohit, Bumrah, Jaddu, may we have Bharat in our hearts and the players wear jersey which has 'Bharat', Jay Shah," Sehwag said in a retweet.
He then stated that the name was given by the British and it should be replaced with the 'original name'. "I have always believed a name should be one which instills pride in us. "We are Bhartiyas, India is a name given by the British & it has been long overdue to get our original name ‘Bharat’ back officially. I urge the BCCI (and) JayShah to ensure that this World Cup our players have Bharat on our chest. India announced its 15-member squad for the World Cup," the former opening batter called.
"In the 1996 World Cup, Netherlands came to play in the World Cup in Bharat as Holland. In 2003 when we met them, they were the Netherlands & continue to be so. Burma have changed the name given by the British back to Myanmar. And many others have gone back to their original name," Sehwag added.
India announced a 15-member squad for the World Cup 2023. Suryakumar Yadav and Axar Patel found their names in the team, while Sanju Samson and Tilak Varma missed out.
