Team Bharat not Team India: Virender Sehwag bats for name change, has special request for Jay Shah

Former India cricketer Virender Sehwag has asked the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) to have the jerseys of the Indian team competing in the upcoming ICC World Cup showcase name “Bharat” instead of “India.” Sehwag took to X immediately after the BCCI announced India’s squad for the upcoming World Cup.

This request comes in the wake of the controversy surrounding invitations for a September 9 dinner at Rashtrapati Bhavan ahead of the G20 summit, which referred to President Droupadi Murmu as the “President of Bharat” instead of “President of India.”

“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,” Sehwag wrote on X.

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 @JayShah to ensure that this World Cup our players have… https://t.co/R4Tbi9AQgA

— Virender Sehwag (@virendersehwag) September 5, 2023

Sehwag also said that in the 1996 World Cup, the Netherlands had participated under the name “Holland” when they came to play in India. However, when they took on India in the 2003 edition, they were known as “the Netherlands” and have remained so. He also mentioned that Burma had reverted to its original name, Myanmar, which was changed by the British.

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

— Virender Sehwag (@virendersehwag) September 5, 2023

There are a number of news reports that suggest that during the special parliamentary session that is scheduled for September 18-22 a proposal to remove the word ‘India’ from the Constitution is being considered. Apart from this, there have also been calls from certain quarters within the ruling government to revise Article 1 of the Constitution, and use only the word ‘Bharat.’

Sehwag was quite vocal on social media where he said that he was not interested in politics and that he had declined offers from two prominent political parties in the past couple of elections.

I am not at all interested in politics. Have been approached by both major parties in the last two elections. My view is that most entertainers or sportsman should not enter politics as most are their for their own ego and hunger for power and barely spare genuine time for… https://t.co/wuodkpp6HT

— Virender Sehwag (@virendersehwag) September 5, 2023

India named their 15-member squad for the upcoming ICC Cricket World Cup via a press conference on Tuesday where Ajit Agarkar and captain Rohit Sharma were present. Tilak Varma, Sanju Samson and Prasidh Krishna were dropped while KL Rahul was included in the squad.

India squad for World Cup 2023

Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Shubman Gill, Suryakumar Yadav, Shreyas Iyer, Ishan Kishan, KL Rahul, Ravindra Jadeja, Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Shardul Thakur, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Mohammed Shami