Indian Cricketers and their Bizarre Superstitions

Sports and superstitions have always had a strong bond, with some of the most famous sports personalities having the most bizarre beliefs and rituals during matches - right from Boris Becker growing his beard a fortnight before the Wimbledon and wearing the same Fila shirt throughout the competition to Tiger Woods’s obsession with the colour red considering it as a sign of power. World Cup winner and Spanish goalkeeper Iker Casillas wore his socks inside-out during matches, and ‘Mr. Style Icon’ David Beckham, a self-confessed obsessive compulsive, had to have everything in a straight line or in pairs. Beckham’s Spice Girl wife, Victoria used to call him a “Weirdo” for this. 

With jersey numbers being introduced into cricket for limited-over matches, players had the freedom to pick their favourite numbers as the ones being displayed on their back. Just as with email ID and passwords, people tend to have a special affinity with their date of birth. On similar grounds, Yuvraj Singh’s number 12 was chosen since his birthday falls on the 12 of December, and he believes that is his lucky number.

But Yuvi is not the only victim of the ‘Birthdate syndrome’ in the team as Indian captain MS Dhoni, arguably one of the luckiest cricketers in the world, picking number ‘7’ on account of his birthday being 7 July. Safe to say his choice has paid him rich dividends.

Image Credits | Official Sourav Ganguly Facebook page

From the most successful Indian captain to, arguably, the best captain in Indian cricket, Sourav Ganguly.  Not only did the Bengal Tiger wore numerous rings on his fingers, (and there were plenty of those during his time) but Ganguly always made sure of the fact that he had his Guru’s (teacher’s) photograph in his pocket whenever he was playing on the field.

7. Rahul Dravid wearing his right thigh pad first -

For someone as hard-working and sincere as Rahul Dravid, one would normally not relate him to being superstitious. Call it superstition or just habit, but ‘The Wall’ followed the self-imposed rule of wearing the right thigh pad first before going out to bat, and never did he experiment with a new bat before a new series.

6. Zaheer Khan and his Yellow handkerchief -

Arguably the best pacer India has had in the 21 century, Zaheer Khan had his own set of beliefs when it came to important matches. The left-arm Indian pacer always had his lucky yellow handkerchief during the match. For those unaware of the rightful use of a handkerchief, this is how you use one without getting into trouble with the match-fixing committee.

Speaking of Indian cricketers and handkerchiefs, Zaheer Khan was not the first one to carry a special one during matches. Not sure whether he had the same belief as Tiger Woods about the colour red being a sign of power but legendary Indian star Mohinder Amarnath, who clinched the final wicket during the 1983 World Cup final, carried his lucky red handkerchief in his pocket throughout his career. Former Australian captain Steve Waugh did the exact same thing in the future but clearly it was the Indians who set the trend.

4. Anil Kumble, and Sachin Tendulkar handing his sweater over to the Umpire -

Remember the match when Anil Kumble took 10 wickets in an innings against Pakistan in Delhi? Well, the whole world does and here is an interesting superstition from that historic Test in 1999. It was believed that whenever Indian maestro Sachin Tendulkar handed over Anil Kumble’s sweater and cap to the umpire before him bowling his over, Kumble took a wicket. It might seem bizarre now but could you really argue with anything when one ends up picking 10 wickets in an innings and creating history?

3. Virender Sehwag and his numberless jersey -

Just like Viru Paaji kept his batting, let us keep it simple for Virender Sehwag and his superstition about his jersey number.

This is Sehwag.

Then Sehwag decided not to have any number on his jersey.

ICC did not like Sehwag’s decision.

Be carefree. Be successful. Be like Sehwag!

(Also check out Sehwag poking fun of former Pakistani cricketers who want to come to India to earn money by doing commentary)

Image Credits | Official Sachin Tendulkar Facebook page

In India, Cricket is a religion and Sachin Tendulkar is a God for millions. But as it turns out, even the cricketing God has his own set of superstitions. Sachin Tendulkar always used to put on his left pad first and, as the Indian captain, one could spot Tendulkar in the pavilion wearing both his batting pads even after he got out.

(Read about Shahid Afridi praising Sachin Tendulkar when compared with Virat Kohli)

1. The Indian Cricket Team and the reverse jinxing

The answer lies with the concept of anti-jinxing. Veteran Indian opener Virender Sehwag revealed a very pre-match ritual which the Indians followed during the 2011 World Cup, especially before their match against arch-rivals Pakistan.

Sehwag was quoted saying, “I played in two World Cups and I can say that we were superstitious while playing Pakistan and used to say that we will lose. In fact, in 2011, we kept saying we will lose in quarters, semi-finals and finals.”

Now that you know the secret behind India’s World Cup win, as a fan you can get to work with a similar approach and who knows you too could possibly play a part in India winning another World Cup. Okay, maybe not!