The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) responded to the recent social media controversy over Mukesh Kumar wearing Virat Kohli’s famous No. 18 jersey during the India A match against the England Lions at St Lawrence Ground, Canterbury. The board also addressed whether they plan to retire Kohli’s jersey, similar to the retirements of Sachin Tendulkar’s and MS Dhoni’s numbers.
In India A’s first four-day unofficial Test against the England Lions, Mukesh Kumar was seen wearing the No. 18 jersey, and photos quickly went viral online. This sparked anger among fans, who flooded the fast bowler with hateful messages. Many also criticized the BCCI for permitting this, calling it “disrespectful” to the former India captain, who retired from Test cricket just last month.
Speaking to PTI, a senior BCCI official familiar with the matter explained that players can choose any jersey number during India A matches, but their kit number in international games stays the same as before. This means that Mukesh, who wasn’t selected for the Test series against England, would wear his original number 49 jersey.
“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 said.
Although Kohli is still an active international player in the 50-over format, the PTI report suggested that, similar to Sachin (No. 10) and Dhoni (No. 7), no new Test player would want to take on the responsibility of wearing a jersey with such a legendary number.
In India, there is no official process for retiring a jersey number, but some iconic numbers are often left unused by future players. For example, Shardul Thakur faced criticism when he wore Sachin Tendulkar’s No. 10 jersey during his ODI debut in Sri Lanka and was eventually compelled to change it due to fan backlash. On the other hand, no player has worn Dhoni’s No. 7 since he retired from international cricket.
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