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The controversy erupted when pacer Mukesh Kumar wore the No. 18 jersey in the India A versus England Lions match. Number 18 is a number that has become inextricably linked with the legend of Indian cricket, Virat Kohli, and thus was given on rare occasions. Post-Kohli's retirement from Test cricket, the number was to have been free. However, the fans went into high alert and started pouring criticism on the BCCI for allowing Mukesh Kumar to don the number of the greats. The Indian board has now clarified all matters pertaining to the jersey.

News agency PTI quoted a senior BCCI official as saying:

”Mukesh wore No. 18 during the opening ‘Test’ match versus Lions. But when it comes to India A squad, there are no fixed numbers as jerseys don’t have names. Anyone can pick any random number. The jersey numbers are only sacrosanct for international games.”

Incidentally, this is not the first time such an uproar came into being. Fans were equally furious when Shardul Thakur wore No. 10 in an ODI in Sri Lanka, and it had been associated with none other than Sachin Tendulkar. Due to the backlash, Shardul changed his jersey number after a short while.

So, even though Kohli's No. 18 is currently empty in the Test setup, BCCI is not going to assign that number to any of its players. Although Kohli's is a split legacy in some quarters, he remains the most successful Test captain India has ever had and is still an active player in ODIs.

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Arshdeep Singh and Sai Sudharsan, who have just entered the arena of Test cricket, would now receive different jersey numbers. The numbers are never tossed about casually during India A matches. Mukesh Kumar, not part of India-England Test squad at the moment, wore No. 18 just for that match. If he gets back into the main squad, he'll have to revert to No. 49- the number originally allotted to him.

There exists no formal process in India to retire numbers, though certain iconic numbers are likely kept out of circulation by the BCCI. Numbers 10 and 7, belonging respectively to Sachin Tendulkar and MS Dhoni, are effectively considered retired for all practicing purposes. A similar fate is likely to befall Kohli's No. 18 and Rohit's No. 45, which means these famous numbers will not be given to new players in times to come.