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Many celebrities and sports personalities are constantly sharing their stand and opinions on various social media platforms regarding the ongoing highly controversial ‘India vs. Bharat’ debate. While many criticized the decision, many supported it and slammed others. Amid the ongoing row, two Indian cricket legends – Sunil Gavaskar and Virender Sehwag, have presented their opinion on the debate.
Sehwag wrote to BCCI secretary Jay Shah and urged players to play with ‘Bharat’ written on their jerseys.
‘We are Bharatiyas’
“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 and it has been long overdue to get our original name ‘Bharat’ back officially. I urge the BCCI (secretary) Jay Shah to ensure that in this World Cup our players have Bharat on our chest,” VIRU said in a tweet.
He also gave an example of such a scenario and mentioned the Netherlands cricket team (formerly Holland).
“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 and 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 further mentioned in another tweet.
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Sunil Gavaskar also opened up on the issue and cleared that ‘Bharat’ is the original name. However, he added that if a change has to be made, it should be brought to everything.
‘That is the original name, Bharat’
“That is the original name, Bharat. So it has a nice ring to it. But it has to be done at the official level, the government level and the BCCI level for the team to be called Bharat cricket team. But changes have occurred. Burma is now called Myanmar. So the original name can come in and I do not see much of a problem. But, basically, it needs to come in everything,” the former cricketer said in a chat with India Today.
