Rishabh Pant dons Virat Kohli's No. 18 jersey on return to cricket

Rishabh Pant returned to international cricket in the first unofficial Test between India A and South Africa A by donning the No. 18 jersey worn by Virat Kohli. Pant had sustained a fracture to his foot during the fourth Test of the five-match tour of England earlier in 2025. He is playing his first match after an injury layoff of three months.

Pant is playing as captain of the squad that is currently taking on the touring South Africa A outfit at the BCCI Centre of Excellence Ground 1 in Bengaluru. Pant had to miss the title-winning Asia Cup 2025 as well as the two-match home Test series against West Indies owing to his injury. The wicketkeeper-batter looks set to make a comeback to Test cricket in their series against South Africa.

Social media has been abuzz after Pant was seen in No. 18 jersey. Many Indian supporters commented their views that Kohli's jersey number should be retired to respect his legacy. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is yet to retire Kohli's No. 18 jersey. They have already taken the step for Sachin Tendulkar's No. 10 and MS Dhoni's No. 7.

A senior BCCI official clarified that the players are free to choose any jersey number while playing for India A since those matches do not possess personalised jerseys with names on it.

"When it comes to India A squads, there are no fixed numbers as jerseys do not have names. Anyone can pick any random number. The jersey numbers are only sacrosanct for international games," stated the BCCI official, as quoted by India Today.

Interestingly, this was not the first time an Indian player wore the No. 18 jersey since Kohli announced his retirement from Tests in May. In June, Mukesh Kumar had donned the number during an unofficial Test for India A while playing against England Lions. The BCCI had to cop severe criticism from Indian cricket fans who saw it as a disrespectful move to the former India skipper.

Speaking of the match, India A won the toss and opted to field first as Tanush Kotian starred on Day 1,  picking up four wickets as the South Africa ended the day on 299/9 in 85.2 overs.