XtraTime Web Desk: Virat Kohli led Indian cricket team will begin their ICC World Test Championship campaign when they will face West Indies in Antigua on Day 1 of the first Test on Thursday. With the start of their campaign in ICC Test Championship, the Indian players will have numbers on their back, like the limited-overs jerseys.
On Wednesday, the players posed with their new Test jerseys and talked about their feeling on wearing the numbered Test jerseys.
“If that’s what’s going to help engage fans with the five-day format, it shouldn’t be a hassle for any of us because it is on the back of our shirts,” spinner R. Ashwin told BCCI.TV. “For me whatever helps fans engage with the oldest and the best format of the game is fine.”
Cheteshwar Pujara said that he had seen kit numbers in long form cricket in the County circuit before and that this will help fans identify players better.
“If you look at the ODI and T20 format, players always have their names on the back. It becomes easy for the fans to identify the player and even for the players it feels good. You have your Test jersey number but at the same time when you have your own number on the shirt it feels great. I played County cricket and there they always had it,” Pujara said.
KL Rahul said that the complaints that he heard from his family and friends is that everyone looks the same in Test cricket and that will change now.
“Nobody knows who’s who because all of us have beards and once we wear the helmets, you can’t really see who is batting. It’s just a bit more fun, a bit more colour,” he said.