Congress Lok Sabha MP Shashi Tharoor Saturday said the Indian cricket team chose saffron for a World Cup match in view of an International Cricket Council rule and asserted that it was a proud Indian colour.
A new ICC rule required that when two teams had jerseys withthe same colour, the host country’s team does not need to change its outfit, hesaid here.
The other team must, however, change its outfit so Indiachose a uniform of saffron and blue, he added.
“…So, I wore a saffron jacket with a slightly bluepocket handkerchief and that was out of suport for (Indian team) them (for thematch against England),” he said.
The orange colour in the Indian team’s official uniform hadled to an outcry from some Congress and Samajwadi Party leaders who alleged itwas a bid aimed at “saffronisation” drawing ridicule from the BJPwhich dubbed their reaction as “myopic and reactionary”.
Answering a question from a participant following hislecture on his “The Great Indian Novel,” inspired by the Mahabaratahere, Tharoor asked “why should I surrender saffron to any politicalconviction..?”
The participant, pointing to his saffron kurta, asked if hechose it to face “the English (England) cricket team (again).”
The Congress MP from Kerala said as far as he was concerned,”it (saffron) is a very proud Indian colour and it is one of the threecolours in the Indian flag…So happy to wear it.”
He said he could watch only two matches because of theParliamentary session.
In the recent match with England, Indian cricketers hadsported a orange-blue jersey.The lecture was organised by the C P R Institueof Indological Research here as a sequel to its Mahabharata conference held inMarch this year.