Sehwag Rejected Numerology, Played Without Jersey Number: Aakash Chopra on Player Superstitions

Speaking on ‘Cheeky Singles’, Aakash Chopra recalled how players believed in superstitions:

“Sometimes someone would start believing in a lucky wristband, even the colour of the wristband mattered. Then, there were players who would believe in their jersey number. If the number they wanted was already taken, they’d go to a numerologist for advice. And then, there was someone like Virender Sehwag, who’d say, ‘Forget all this, I’ll play without the number’.”

On a superstition he used to follow in his early days:

“When I was a kid, the very first superstition I had was about a t-shirt. I scored runs wearing that t-shirt and even got selected for India U19. Back then, you had to wear your own t-shirt and play. During our India U19 tour to Sri Lanka, I scored runs there as well. But once you play for India U19, you have to wear the official jersey. If you wear your own t-shirt, someone will scold you. Anshuman Gaekwad was our coach at that time. I thought, forget it, I’ll wear my own t-shirt, but I taped the brand logo. That day, I made a few runs again. But when the tour ended, I realised the t-shirt was wearing out. That’s when I decided, get ahead of the t-shirt, work on your game instead.”

On the ‘commentator’s curse’ and why he stopped predicting during India matches:

“Curses are of different levels. Sometimes, people troll me because I say, ‘There might be a wicket here,’ and then a wicket falls, and you start getting messages like, ‘kaali zubaan' or 'panauti’. That’s why for India matches, I do not predict anything. Only when India is bowling, I tend to say something. But otherwise, no chance. No matter how much you want to say, even if there is something inside that is telling me to say, I will not.”

Speaking on ‘Cheeky Singles’, Pragyan Ojha shared his long-standing superstition:

“Whenever I used to get in the team bus before a match, I would automatically call my mom, then my dad. Even if both of them were sitting together, I’d call them separately. Then I’d call my uncle, who was a cricketer and the one who inspired me to take up the game. Even if I had called my uncle 10 minutes before the match, he would have picked up. But in Sri Lanka, at that time, there was no network and the call didn’t go through. Because of that, I became Muttiah Muralitharan’s 800th wicket.”