Will BCCI retire Kohli’s historic ‘Jersey No 18’ from Tests? Here’s what will happen even if seamer Mukesh wore it for India A

In the near future, the Indian Test team is unlikely to have any player donning the iconic jersey No. 18, which belonged to the legendary Virat Kohli for 14 years. This holds true even though Bengal seamer Mukesh Kumar was spotted wearing the famous number during the first unofficial Test between India A and England Lions in Canterbury.

While Kohli has still not retired from ODIs where we would see world cricket’s most distinguished No. 18 don the India Blues, it is understood that just like it was in the case of Sachin Tendulkar (jersey No. 10) and Mahendra Singh Dhoni (jersey No. 7), it is unlikely that any new player coming into the Test team would like to bear the burden of a legacy number.

Mukesh isn’t a part of the Test squad and it is understood that even if he is selected as a replacement, his jersey number would be 49, the one he wore during his senior team debut in the West Indies.

What BCCI said on Jersey No. 18?
“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,” a senior BCCI official in the know of things told PTI.

The Indian Test squad will have two new members in B Sai Sudharsan and Arshdeep Singh but it is understood that the jersey numbers allotted to them are different.

In Indian cricket, there is no formal way of retiring any particular jersey number but some of the famous numbers aren’t worn by players who come later into the team.There was one instance when Shardul Thakur had worn jersey No. 10 in an ODI match in Sri Lanka and the fans didn’t take too kindly to it, forcing Shardul to change his jersey number.However when it came to Dhoni, no one else wore No. 7 after he retired from international cricket.

The nature of Kohli’s contribution to Indian cricket and the mass appeal he enjoys, it is difficult to imagine anyone else wearing that Jersey No. 18 in any format of the game.

Virat Kohli’s life in numbers:
7
The number of double-hundreds made by Kohli in tests, the most by an India player and the fourth most in test history. Six of them came in an extraordinary 18-month, 33-innings spell from July 2016 to December 2017 — a period in which he was the No. 1 batter in the format.

30
The number of test centuries made by Kohli — only 14 players have more. He also had 31 half-centuries.

46.85
Kohli’s batting average in tests.

123
The number of test appearances made by Kohli. He was captain in 68 tests, winning 40 of them — the most for an Indian captain and fourth overall in test cricket.

254
Kohli’s highest test score, made against South Africa in Pune, India, in October 2019. He finished the innings not out and it was the last of his double centuries.

9,230
The number of test runs made by Kohli, which ranks him fourth on the all-time list of India players behind fellow greats Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid and Sunil Gavaskar.