Virat Kohli jersey number: Why does Indian captain wear No.18?

Virat Kohli is undoubtedly one of the greatest cricket players of all time that the world has seen. The Indian captain has a number of records to his name and has gathered millions of accolades from the fans. Due to his exceptional cricketing display throughout all these years, the Virat Kohli jersey number 18 has become synonymous with greatness and Virat Kohli has proudly maintained the number 18 on his jersey since the beginning of his professional career. Here’s a look at the story behind the Indian captain’s number 8 jersey.

The story behind the Virat Kohli jersey number

Virat Kohli wears the number 18 on his jersey in memory of his father. During his early childhood year, Kohli was sent to cricket coaching by his father, Prem Kohli and it was his father’s dream to see Virat Kohli play for the national side while representing team India in the international circuit. Virat Kohli’s father passed away when he was 18 years old on December 18, 2006.

Kohli was playing a Ranji Trophy match for Delhi when his father passed away. Later, Kohli went on to play for the Under-19 team with the number 18 on his jersey. Since his father couldn’t witness him playing for team India, Kohli has always stuck with the number 18 on his jersey as a tribute to his father.

Virat Kohli stats in cricket

Virat Kohli has gathered some of the most noteworthy stats that cricket fans have witnessed. Virat Kohli has played 91 test matches while scoring 7490 runs with an average of 52.4. In the ODI format, he has played 254 matches while scoring 12,169 runs with an average of 59.1. In T20Is, Kohli has played 90 matches while scoring 3159 runs with an average of 52.6. Virat Kohli stats have seen him get the highest score of unbeaten 254 runs in Test cricket and 183 runs in the ODI format.

Sale of MPL India jersey online

MPL Sports is the current official merchandise sponsor of the Indian cricket team after signing a three-year deal (November 2020 till December 2023) with the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). MPL Sports has also announced that cricket fans will now be able to purchase the Indian retro jersey that was first introduced during the 1992 Cricket World Cup and was also used as the team kit by Virat Kohli and the Indian team.

Virat Kohli jersey where to buy from?

The sale of the new MPL India jersey online is live on the MPL website. Fans can also place an order for the retro jersey from the MPL application as well. This is the brand's first initiative towards their sports merchandising aspirations. The brand has priced the Indian jersey at INR 1599.

India squad for WTC Final

India squad for WTC Final: Virat Kohli (Captain), Ajinkya Rahane (Vice-captain), Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill, Mayank Agarwal, Cheteshwar Pujara, Hanuma Vihari, Rishabh Pant (wk), R Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Jasprit Bumrah, Ishant Sharma, Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj, Shardul Thakur, Umesh Yadav, KL Rahul (subject to fitness clearance), Wriddhiman Saha (subject to fitness clearance).

Standby players: Abhimanyu Easwaran, Prasidh Krishna, Avesh Khan, Arzan Nagwaswalla

Image Source: AP