Virat Kohli and 18: A connection beyond just a jersey number

Since making his international debut in 2008, Virat Kohli has worn jersey number 18 for India and for RCB.

Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) Virat Kohli ended his four-year Indian Premier League (IPL) century drought on Thursday, with a 63-ball 100 against Sunrisers Hyderabad which kept his side in contention to qualify for the playoffs.

Ever since Kohli began his international career in 2008, the one constant has been his jersey number-18 and the 34-year-old recently revealed that the number had become a "very very important number in my life".

"To be honest, 18 started off as being just a number that was given to me when I first opened that India U19 jersey with my name and number on the back. But it ended up becoming a very very important number in my life. I made my India debut on 18 August . My father also died on 18 December, 2006. Two of the most significant moments of my life happened to be on 18th. Even though I got the number before that, there seems to be a cosmic connection with this date," Kohli told Star Sports. 

Whenever and wherever Kohli has played, fans have turned up wearing the RCB jersey with 18 written at the back.  Kohli admitted that he felt "surreal" when he saw fans wearing a jersey with his name and the number written at the back.

"I still find it surreal when we go to games and I see people wearing my jersey number and name. I find it surreal because as a kid, I wanted to wear the jersey of my heroes. You just feel grateful and this is just a great opportunity god has given and you just feel blessed," he said.

Kohli and RCB need a win in their last match at home against Gujarat Titans on Sunday to qualify for the playoffs.

Also read: IPL 2023: Stats | Virat Kohli scores 6th IPL ton, matches Chris Gayle's record