Why does Saqib Hussain wear jersey number 18? (Photo- PTI)

Sakib Hussain 18 Number Jersey: IPL is once again making stars out of unknown faces from small towns. Sunrisers Hyderabad's young fast bowler Saqib Hussain performed so well in his very first match that the entire cricket world started praising him. In the 21st match of IPL 2026, against Rajasthan Royals, Saqib Hussain displayed brilliant bowling and took 4 wickets for just 24 runs in 4 overs. Taking four wickets on your IPL debut is a dream for any bowler. Shakib not only played an important role in SRH's victory in the match, but also caught everyone's attention with his lethal bowling.

Why does Saqib Hussain wear jersey number 18?

Shakib's jersey number also remained in the headlines during the match. He reminded many people of Virat Kohli while coming on the field wearing jersey number 18. But the story behind Shakib's number 18 is completely different from that of Virat Kohli and is very emotional. Saqib Hussain's coach Saurabh Kumar told the whole story in a special conversation with TV9. He told that Shakib wears number 18 because his (coach Saurabh Kumar) date of birth is 18.

Coach Saurabh Kumar said, 'Saqib does every small and big thing by asking me. When he joined Kolkata Knight Riders, he asked me, Sir, what jersey number should I keep? I said keep the date of your birthday. She said no sir, I want to keep the date of your birthday. But in KKR, Angkrish Raghuvanshi had the number 18 jersey. Then Saqib asked for the number 1+8=9, which Manish Pandey had. Ultimately he took jersey number 45. But when he got the number 18 jersey in Sunrisers Hyderabad, he immediately called me and gave me the good news.

Special gift given on Guru Purnima

Saurabh Kumar also told that Shakib had gifted him a jersey on the occasion of Guru Purnima, which was of Kolkata Knight Riders. Then he was a part of KKR team. At the same time, this time too he has got a special jersey made for his coach.

mohid khan

Mohid Khan is serving as a senior sub-editor on the sports desk of TV9 Hindi.

He has 4 years of experience in journalism. He is originally from Beawar city of Rajasthan. Mohid has obtained the degree of Journalism and Mass Communication from Chaudhary Charan Singh University. He is fond of reading, writing and playing. He started his career with India News. After this he worked in institutions like OneIndia Hindi, Zee News and India TV. He is an expert in minutely analyzing any cricket match and is also interested in making news related to other sports.

Read More