The Indian team will be opening their ICC World Test Championship campaign when they take the field against the West Indies in Antigua on Thursday. But ahead of the Championship, Team India revealed its new test jersey kit.
The official handle of the Indian cricket team revealed the jersey numbers of the players through Instagram stories. Team India posted Instagram stories of the entire team including skipper Virat Kohli and Vice-captain Ajinkya Rahane sporting the new Test jersey with their name and preferred number written behind. Virat Kohli was seen wearing number 18 at the back, while Test vice-captain Ajinkya Rahane was seen sporting number 3 jersey.
Photo Credit: Team India Intsagram
Bowlers Mohammad Shami and Kuldeep Yadav will be having number 11 and 21 respectively behind their backs. Top-order batter Cheteshwar Pujara will be sporting number 25, all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja will be wearing number 8 jersey. Pacer Ishant Sharma will be sporting number 97, wicket-keeper Rishabh Pant will don number 17. Rohit Sharma will sport number 45. Spinner Ravichandran Ashwin will don number 99 whereas Hanuma Vihari will sport number 44.
The decision to introduce numbers at the back of the Test jersey was taken by the International Cricket Council (ICC) to make Test cricket more appealing to the youth. The change will apply to all Test playing nations. The introduction of having numbers behind the Test jerseys has been criticised by several former players.
The ICC World Test Championship will see teams fighting for 120 points per series. A total of eight Test-playing nations - Australia, Bangladesh, England, India, New Zealand, Pakistan, South Africa, Sri Lanka, and the West Indies – are competing in the tournament. The Test Championship has been started with a view to popularise the format.
