Being a cricket fan, one would know how fanatics of the sport would love to don their favourite numbers and names on the back of their jersey. Ideally, these numbers are immortalized through a sequence of amazing cricketers who simply doesn’t play the sport but they make it personal for themselves and their pack of followers.
In this story, we will take a look at one of the most popular jersey numbers in cricket. It reads 18. Spanning from legends to kings, this jersey number has played host to a few very special players over cricket’s glittering antiquity. We will be looking at six cricketers who have sported the number 18 and popularized it for the ages to come.
#1 Adam Gilchrist – Australia
My personal favourite on the list, Adam Gilchrist has always been a reckoning force in Australian cricket. The hard-hitting southpaw was a blitzkrieg upfront with the willow and a flash of lightning behind the timbre. He played 287 ODI’s for Australia in his glittering antiquity.
During his residence in the Australian national team, he garnered a staggering 9619 runs at an astonishing average of 35.89. Before Dhoni shattered his figures as a wicket-keeper, he held the record for the highest number of dismissals as a wicket-keeper.
#2 Virat Kohli – India
The Indian captain hasn’t really been in the middle of something colossal lately but the legacy that he has already built over the years made fans believe that he can the solitary batsman in the world to surpass Sachin’s records.
The run-machine has managed to smash 70 centuries to date, garnering a whopping 22818 runs in all forms of international cricket. He is also a stunning fielder and sits at the apex of fitness in the Indian cricketing roster. He dons on jersey number 18 as his father passed away on December 18th when he was 18 years old. He couldn’t find a better tribute to the biggest hero of his life.
#3 Moeen Ali – England:
One of the finest all-rounders in the world, Moeen Ali is an absolute destroyer with both the bat and the ball. The southpaw has earned himself a place in the Chennai Super Kings squad in the ongoing IPL and he has already shown it to the world how menacing he can be in the shorter format of the game.
He is not a bowler who can bat and he isn’t a batsman who can bowl. He is capable of doing both with tantamount brilliance and is an equally adept fielder in the deep that makes it absolutely irresistible to be kept out of the team in the shorter formats of the game.
#4 Faf Du Plessis – South Africa
The man has changed the dynamics of South African cricket with his extraordinary brand of batting. He is relentless and an extremely aggressive striker of the ball. He was also the captain of the national side for a while before focusing his entire attention to be a good player for the nation.
He is also one of the most reckoning cricketers in franchise cricket across the globe and his impeccable mix of stellar batting and bowling makes him a complete package in any format of the game.
#5 Smriti Mandhana
Smriti took over the mantle of captaincy for the Indian women’s team in the shortest format of the game after Harmanpreet Kaur was injured.
She is one of the rising sensations of Indian women’s cricket and her boisterous display has actually inspired countless girls to take up the sport in recent times. When asked by Yuzvendra Chahal that why she dons on jersey number 18, she was heard saying that it wasn’t her first preference. Her choice was number 7 that was being donned by MS Dhoni. Sadly, that jersey was already taken and an official suggested that the number 18 will look good on her, especially with Kohli donning the same figures on his back.
#6 Trent Boult
One of the most experienced campaigners of the current New Zealand squad, Trent Boult has been wearing the number 18 for New Zealand ever since Matthew Sinclair dropped it.
Boult started his international career with the number 8 on his shirt but in 2014, he switched it to number 18. He is one of the most menacing bowlers in the bowling roster and an equally brilliant fielder.
