Virat Kohli: Jersey number 18; for fans, this number is enough to tell the story of the player who took Indian cricket to new heights. This number was so heavy for this player; this date drowned him in tears one night, and his morning was not like the rest of the days.
This morning changed the life of this Indian cricket batsman, and Indian cricket also got a superstar. But fans often remain restless about the story behind this player’s jersey and why he wears jersey number 18.
Virat Kohli, who debuted in India in 2008, rains runs with the bat. He has scored over 25 thousand runs in 15 years of international cricket. But whenever Virat comes to the field, he comes with 18 number jersey. But number 18 is just his jersey number; it is the date he spent the whole night in tears. The number 18 is associated with his father.
Talking about this, Virat Kohli said- “I never asked for the number 18 jersey, but when I got my first U-19 jersey, it was the number 18 jersey and when I made my debut for the Indian team. That was the day of 18 August. So it is not a random number. It’s stuck with me.”
Virat Kohli said “I never asked for number 18, when I got my first U-19 jersey, it was number 18 then when I made my India debut, it was on August 18th, unfortunately my father passed away on 18th, so it wasn’t a random number anymore, it stuck with me”.
— Johns. (@CricCrazyJohns) March 26, 2023
Virat Kohli’s father, Prem Kohli, died in 2006. The date of his death was 18 December. Virat Kohli’s father died at 2 the night. Even after this, Virat went to bat the next day. The danger of follow-on was looming over Delhi.
Virat went to play the match the next day. He saved the team by playing an inning of 90 runs. After this came home and performed the last rites of the father. Virat’s father wanted him to play international cricket one day. Virat made his India debut in 2008 and always wears jersey number 18 in memory of his father.
