BCCI on Virat Kohli’s No. 18 Test jersey retirement

BCCI has broken the silence on retiring Kohli’s No. 18 Test jersey after Mukesh Kumar’s act triggered hate.

BCCI has opened up on whether they would retire Virat Kohli’s Test jersey No. 18, just like it did for Sachin Tendulkar and MS Dhoni. BCCI recently reacted to the recent social media furore over Mukesh Kumar donning Virat Kohli’s iconic No. 18 jersey during the India A match against the England Lions at the St Lawrence Ground, Canterbury. It also opened up on whether they would retire Kohli’s jersey, just like it was done for Tendulkar and Dhoni.

BCCI breaks silence on retiring Kohli’s Test jersey No. 18.

The Indian Board opened on whether they would retire Virat Kohli’s Test jersey No. 18. During India A’s first four-day unofficial Test match against the England Lions, Mukesh was spotted wearing the No. 18 jersey, pictures of which went instantly viral on the internet. Fans were left enraged and bombarded Kumar with hate messages. They even lashed out at BCCI for allowing it and said it was an act of “disrespect towards the former India captain, who retired from the traditional format earlier last month.

What did BCCI say on the matter?

A senior BCCI official, speaking to the PTI, explained that while a player can opt for any jersey number during an India A match, his/her kit number during an international game will remain the same as it was before. This implied that Mukesh, who had not been picked for the Test series against England, would get jersey number 49, the one he wore during his senior team debut in the West Indies if selected for the contest. He said, “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.”