Virat Kohli Retirement: Virat Kohli, the standout batsman for the Indian cricket team, startled the cricket community on Monday by declaring his retirement from Test cricket. One of the greatest batters in contemporary cricket, Virat Kohli, announced on social media that he will be leaving the game’s longest format immediately. There have been rumors that Virat told the BCCI about his choice, but he was urged to change his mind.
Rohit Sharma & Kohli:
Kohli made a similar move when India played England in a five-match Test series in June, just days after Rohit Sharma announced his retirement. It was intriguing that Kohli made his announcement shortly after Rohit’s decision and before the selectors had a real conversation about the England Test series squad.
One of the main reasons Kohli announced his retirement at this time was to give the selectors enough time to choose the England squad. Without Rohit and Kohli, India’s top order is relatively young, but several names have already established themselves as strong contenders.
Reasons Behind Retirement:
With Shreyas Iyer and Sai Sudarshan also in the mix, Yashasvi Jaiswal and Shubman Gill have long been seen as the future of the Indian batting lineup. An experienced player like Cheteshwar Pujara could provide consistency to the No. 3 spot in Virat’s absence.
The Indian team’s struggles during the 2024 Border-Gavaskar Trophy against Australia may have played a major role in his decision to retire. With 190 runs in 5 games, Virat had a forgettable campaign. This number looks even worse when considering that he scored a century. For both fans and commentators, Kohli’s struggles with deliveries outside the off-stump became a recurring theme.
World Test Championship 2025:
As the new World Test Championship (WTC) cycle begins and England becomes the next assignment, Kohli may choose to step away and focus entirely on ODI cricket. With a remarkable average of 46.85 and 9,230 runs in 123 games, including 30 hundreds and 51 half-centuries, Virat announced his retirement from Test cricket. Additionally, he finished as the fourth-most successful Test captain overall, trailing only Steve Waugh (41 victories), Ricky Ponting (48 wins), and Graeme Smith (53 wins).
Although that record is impressive for any cricket player, Kohli still longs for one particular accomplishment. The top batsman has mentioned winning the ODI World Cup in 2027 several times recently. India came painfully close to winning the final in the 2023 campaign, which was a tremendous disappointment.
Kohli played an outstanding role for the team that won every game until falling short against Australia in the summit match. Kohli may have decided it was time to retire from Test cricket and focus entirely on staying healthy and in condition for the next ODI World Cup campaign.
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