Dhoni Pays Tribute to Army by Sporting Special Forces Insignia

Twitter erupted after spotting a special symbol embroidered on MS Dhoni’s gloves during their ICC World Cup match.

MS Dhoni Pays Tribute to Indian Army: Twitter erupted after they pointed out a special symbol embroidered on MS Dhoni’s gloves.

(Photo: AP/Altered by The Quint)

As the Indian cricket team won hearts of many after a spectacular win against South Africa during their ICC World Cup campaign opener on Wednesday, 5 June, it was not just the team’s performance that dominated the chatter on social media.

Following the game where India registered a comfortable 6-wicket win, Twitter erupted after they pointed out a special symbol embroidered on MS Dhoni’s gloves.

As usual, the senior wicketkeeper-batsman and former captain of the Indian cricket team displayed the best of his game while stumping Andile Phehlukwayo and scoring 34 runs. The "Balidaan Badge" or the Army insignia was spotted on his gloves as television replays showed him stumping Phehlukwayo in the 40th over of the innings bowled by Yuzvendra Chahal.

The pictures of Dhoni's gloves went viral on social media within no time and fans poured in love and respect for the 37-year-old.

Balidaan is a distinct insignia of the special forces, which form part of the Parachute Regiment. It has a commando dagger pointed downwards, with upward-extending wings extending from the blade and a scroll superimposed on the blade with "Balidaan" inscribed in Devanagari. Only Paramilitary Commandos are allowed to wear the Balidaan Badge.

It was not the first instance when Dhoni was seen making his support for the Indian forces public on the cricket field. After the Pulwama attack in which 40 CRPF troopers lost their lives, Dhoni had come out with an idea of wearing camouflage caps during an ODI against Australia in March. The entire team, along with Dhoni, was seen sporting camouflage caps in their bid to pay tribute to the security personnel who lost their lives in the terror attack on 14 February.

The Indian Territorial Army had in November 2011 conferred the honorary rank of Lieutenant Colonel in the Parachute Regiment to Dhoni. However, he did his training under the Para Brigade in 2015. In 2018, Dhoni had appeared in his Lieutenant Colonel uniform to receive the Padma Bhushan award at the Rashtrapati Bhawan on 13 April.

(With inputs from IANS.)