Former India skipper and star batter Virat Kohli always wears Number 18 jersey while playing for Team India as well as IPL franchise Royal Challengers Bangalore. There is a strong emotional reason why Virat Kohli wears the number 18 jersey while playing.
Virat Kohli has worn the Number 18 jersey every since his under-19 days when he was the captain of World Cup-winning under-19 side in 2008. When Virat Kohli was named in the India team in 2018, Number 18 jersey was unoccupied and he got that number without any trouble.
Why Virat Kohli wears the number 18 jersey?
Virat Kohli’s father passed away on December 18, 2006 when Kohli was just 17 uears old. Kohli was playing a Ranji game for Delhi against Karnataka when his father passed away.
Virat Kohli showed superb grit and decided to play the Ranji game the very next day. Kohli took the brave decision after a discussion with his mother and his coach. Kohli scored 90 runs in that match and it helped Delhi avoid a follow-on.
“I still remember the night my father passed away as it was the hardest time in my life. But the call to play the morning after my father’s death came instinctively to me,” Kohli had told CNN.
“I called my (Delhi) coach in the morning. I said I wanted to play, because for me not completing a cricket game is a sin. That was a moment that changed me as a person. The importance this sport holds in my life is very, very high,” he had added.
