'Lot of people initially thought that 7 is a lucky number for me': MS Dhoni opens up on his iconic No. 7 jersey

There were calls to retire the iconic No.7 jersey as a mark of respect to MS Dhoni's contribution to Indian cricket.

MS Dhoni and No. 7 go hand in hand. The talismanic keeper-batter has been sporting the iconic No. 7 jersey since his international debut in 2007 and the number has eventually become synonymous with him. Dhoni may have retired from the biggest stage, but the former India skipper remains to be a crucial part of the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) set-up.

Former India skipper MS Dhoni(Getty Images)

Widely regarded among the most successful captains to have braced the sport, Dhoni opened up about the significance of the No. 7 jersey but ruled out any superstitious perspective to it. There were calls to retire the jersey digits as a mark of respect to Dhoni's contribution to Indian cricket. And the 40-year-old Dhoni shared the "simple" reason behind selecting the number, saying his date of birth is emblematic of the digit.

"A lot of people initially thought that 7 is a lucky number for me and all of that. But I chose the number for a very simple reason. I was born on the 7th of July. So it's the 7th day of the 7th month, that was the reason," Dhoni told fans during a virtual interaction held by India Cements.

"Rather than getting to all the different things as to what number is a good number and all, I thought I will use my date of birth as the number. Then whenever people kept asking me, I kept adding to the answer. 81 was the year, 8-1 is again 7, 7 is a very neutral number. People actually kept telling me, I started absorbing it and I started telling it to others in the same way," he further said.

"A lot of people said 7 is a neutral number and even if it doesn't work for you, it doesn't really go against you. That also I added to my answer. I am not very superstitious about it, but it's one number that is close to my heart and I have kept it over the years with me," he added.

Dhoni was a part of the CSK pre-training camp in Surat where players honed their skills for the upcoming season at the Lalabhai Contractor Stadium. The four-time champions will begin their title defence against Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in a repeat of last year's final in the opening fixture of IPL 2022 at the Wankhede Stadium on March 26.

Chennai headline Group B and will take on their fellow group members Sunrisers Hyderabad, Punjab Kings, Royal Challengers Bangalore, and Gujarat Giants two times each. They will also play their Group A counterparts Mumbai Indians twice apart from facing the remaining teams from the group once.

Ahead of the auctions, CSK had retained Dhoni all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja, Ruturaj Gaikwad and Englishman Moeen Ali. They managed to buy back many old faces including Dwayne Bravo, Ambati Rayudu, Robin Uthappa, Mitchell Santner and pacer Deepak Chahar at the auction.