India wicketkeeper-batter Rishabh Pant returned to competitive cricket on Thursday after a three-month injury layoff, playing in India A's home series against South Africa A at Bengaluru's Centre of Excellence stadium.

It was the first of two four-day games for India A, which will precede the senior team's two-match Test series in India next month.

However, Pant, who is captaining the India A side, caused quite a commotion as he was seen wearing Virat Kohli’s iconic no.18 jersey for the match.

Kohli retired from Test cricket in May this year. Following the announcement, many heartbroken supporters demanded that the BCCI retire his jersey number, as it had done for MS Dhoni and Sachin Tendulkar when they left international cricket. However, with the BCCI still to act, Kohli's No. 18 shirt is still available.

This was not the first time an Indian player wore the famed No. 18 shirt following Kohli's Test retirement.

Mukesh Kumar, a pacer, was spotted wearing the No. 18 shirt during an unofficial India A Test against the England Lions.  Mukesh, who had worn No. 49 in his previous Test appearance, received a deluge of hate mail, with many labeling it an act of "disrespect" against the former India captain.

Mukesh was defended by a senior BCCI official, who clarified that although a player can select any jersey number for an India A match, their kit number is fixed for international matches.

"Mukesh wore No. 18 during the opening 'Test' match versus the Lions. But when it comes to the 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," the official had told PTI.