BCCI official explains why Mukesh Kumar wore Virat Kohli’s No. 18 jersey in India A Test: ‘There are no fixed numbers’

After Virat Kohli's shocking retirement from Test cricket, Indian cricket fans had expected that the batter's number 18 jersey number would be retired by the BCCI as a mark of respect to its former captain and one of the greatest ambassadors of the game. However, users on social media went ballistics when they saw pacer Mukesh Kumar wearing a jersey with number 18 printed on it during the India A vs England Lions 1st Unofficial Test match at the St Lawrence Ground in Canterbury.

Notably, BCCI had retired the jersey numbers of former India captain MS Dhoni and former legendary batter Sachin Tendulkar and Kohli's fans expected that a similar honour would also be awarded to the modern day legend. However, as visuals of Kumar wearing the number 18 jersey went viral on social media, fans started criticizing the pacer on social media while also lashing out at the BCCI for what they termed as ‘disrespect’ towards Kohli.

BCCI on Kohli's number 18 jersey:

While speaking to news agency PTI, a senior BCCI official who is in the loop on the matter said that while a player can opt to wear any jersey number during an Indian A match, their kit number will remain the same durng the international matches. The clarification means that if Kumar - who has not been in 18 man squad for England series - gets an opportunity to play for India in the future his jersey number would continue to be 49, the one he wore during his debut series in the West Indies.

"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,"