Wearing Virat Kohli’s No. 18 shirt, Rishabh Pant made his comeback to international cricket in the inaugural unofficial Test match between India A and South Africa A. In the fourth Test of the five-match tour of England earlier in 2025, Rishabh Pant had broken his foot. After a three-month injury layoff, he is playing his first match.
Rishabh Pant is presently serving as captain of the team playing South Africa on tour.
At Bengaluru’s BCCI Centre of Excellence Ground 1, an ensemble. Due to his injury, Rishabh Pant was forced to miss both the two-match home Test series against the West Indies and the Asia Cup 2025, which ended in victory. In their series against South Africa, the wicketkeeper-batter appears to be making a comeback to Test cricket. Following Pant’s appearance in the No. 18 jersey, social media was ablaze.
In order to honor Kohli’s legacy, several Indian fans expressed their opinion in their comments that his jersey number ought to be retired. It is still not time for the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) to retire Kohli’s No. 18 shirt. For MS Dhoni’s No. 7 and Sachin Tendulkar’s No. 10, they have already taken action.
A senior BCCI official explained that since India A matches don’t have personalized jerseys with names on them, players are free to wear any number when playing for the team.
There are no set numbers for India A teams because the jerseys are nameless. Anyone can choose any number at random. The BCCI source, cited by India Today, said that the jersey numbers are only sacred for international matches.
After Kohli declared his retirement from Test cricket in May, it’s interesting to note that this was not the first time an Indian player had worn the No. 18 jersey. Mukesh Kumar had worn the number in an unofficial Test match against the England Lions in June. The BCCI faced harsh criticism from Indian cricket supporters who felt that the former captain of India was being disrespected.
As for the game, India A won the toss and chose to field first. On Day 1, Tanush Kotian was outstanding, taking four wickets as South Africa finished the day at 299/9 in 85.2 overs.
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