India wicketkeeper-batter Rishabh Pant returned to competitive cricket on Thursday following a three-month injury-enforced absence, playing in the India A home series against South Africa A at Bengaluru’s Centre of Excellence ground. This is the first of two 4-day games for India A, scheduled ahead of the senior team’s two-match Test series in India next month. However, the India A captain sparked a social media buzz after being spotted wearing Virat Kohli’s iconic No. 18 jersey during the match.
Kohli retired from Test cricket in May this year. Following the announcement, many heartbroken fans urged the BCCI to retire his jersey number, as it had done for MS Dhoni and Sachin Tendulkar upon their exits from international cricket. However, with the BCCI yet to act, Kohli’s No. 18 jersey remains available.
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Does this mean Pant has switched his jersey number from 17 to 18? Social media went abuzz on Thursday after fans spotted him in the new jersey.
Pant dons No. 18, but he’s not the first
This was not the first instance of an Indian player wearing the iconic No. 18 jersey after Kohli’s Test retirement. In June, weeks after Kohli made the heartbreaking announcement on social media, fast bowler Mukesh Kumar was seen donning the No. 18 jersey during an unofficial Test for India A against the England Lions. The sight sparked a social media uproar, with Mukesh—who had worn No. 49 in his previous Test appearance—facing a flood of hate messages, many calling it an act of “disrespect” towards the former India captain.
{{/usCountry}}This was not the first instance of an Indian player wearing the iconic No. 18 jersey after Kohli’s Test retirement. In June, weeks after Kohli made the heartbreaking announcement on social media, fast bowler Mukesh Kumar was seen donning the No. 18 jersey during an unofficial Test for India A against the England Lions. The sight sparked a social media uproar, with Mukesh—who had worn No. 49 in his previous Test appearance—facing a flood of hate messages, many calling it an act of “disrespect” towards the former India captain.
{{/usCountry}}However, a senior BCCI official defended Mukesh, explaining that while a player can choose any jersey number for an India A match, their kit number in international games remains unchanged.
"Mukesh wore No. 18 during the opening 'Test' match versus Lions. But when it comes to India A squad, there are no fixed numbers as jerseys don't have names. Anyone can pick any random number. The jersey numbers are only sacrosanct for international games," the official had told PTI.