Delhi: Before the tour of England, former India Test captain Virat Kohli said goodbye to Test cricket. After his retirement, fans and cricket lovers demanded that their jersey number 18 be retired, so that no other player would wear that number.
Mukesh Kumar wore No.18 Jersey
Meanwhile, fast bowler Mukesh Kumar was seen in number 18 jersey in the first unofficial Test match played by India A against England Lions. The match was a draw on 2 June. However, Mukesh is not a part of India’s main Test team. In his place, the selectors have selected Akash Deep for a 5 -Test series against England.
Jersey numbers are fixed in international cricket
A senior BCCI official told PTI, “Jersey numbers are not fixed in India A team as the players’ names are not written on these jerseys. In such a situation, players can choose any number. Fix jersey numbers are only in international matches.”
BCCI official explains why mukesh kumar wore Virat Kohli’s No. 18 Jersey in India a Test: ‘There are no fixed numbers’https://t.co/km0fya4xom
– MSN India (@msnindia) June 3, 2025
This means that even if Mukesh comes as a replacement in the main team, he will still wear his old jersey of number 49. As he has done 3 Tests, 6 ODIs and 17 T20 International matches.
This has already happened
This is not the first time a young player has worn a veteran jersey number. Earlier, Shardul Thakur wore Sachin Tendulkar’s number 10 jersey in the ODI, due to which he had to face a lot of criticism. At the same time, since the retirement of Mahendra Singh Dhoni, no Indian player has worn the number 7 jersey.
Mukesh Kumar’s performance
After a disappointing performance by Delhi Capitals in IPL 2025, Mukesh got a place in the India A team. In this match against England Lions, he scored 25 overs including five maiden overs. He took three wickets for a total of 92 runs. They became victims of them. Max Holdon, who played a century innings, England Lions captain James Royu and senior team leg -spinner Rehan Ahmed. Mukesh’s performance was the best among India A bowlers.
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(Tagstotranslate) Eng vs Ind (T) Mukesh Kumar (T) Virat Kohli