From Peak Of His Prowess To Great Downfall: Analysing Virat Kohli's Test Career

Analysing Kohli's Test career [Source: @ICC/x.com]

On Monday, Virat Kohli made a shocking announcement by retiring from Test cricket with immediate effect. The decision came on the back of a poor away tour of Australia where the star batter failed to deliver the goods. He followed Rohit Sharma's footsteps and decided to bid adieu to the game's longest format.

Kohli, who made his Test debut in 2011 had a stellar Test journey and he witnessed several highs and also witnessed the great downfall post 2020. In this piece, we will analyse Kohli's Test career, but we have divided it into three parts.

1) The burden to replace Sachin Tendulkar (2011-15)

When Kohli made his Test debut in 2011, he was playing Test cricket alongside some of the greats, including his idol, Sachin Tendulkar. His Test career started off with a horrendous West Indies tour, but the batter announced his arrival with his maiden Test century at Adelaide in January 2012.

When Tendulkar retired in 2013, the mantle of carrying the team was passed onto Kohli and he became India's new number 4. From his debut in 2011 till 2015, Kohli established himself as one of the most promising talents in Test cricket.

(Kohli's Test stats till 2015)

Till 2015, he became the undisputed starter of the Indian Test team and witnessed the highs of 2014 Australia series, where he slammed 4 centuries and also had the downfall in England when James Anderson made him his bunny.

2) The Bradman of Indian cricket (2016-19)

The 4 year period between 2016-19 turned out to be one of the greatest peak ever witnessed in Test cricket. He looked cut from a different cloth and the world witnessed Kohli's amazing Test journey as he churned up 7 double hundreds in that period and became the Bradman of India.

During the 4 year period, he slammed 16 Test tons and there was no one close to him as he reached new heights in Tests and by the end of 2019, he already had 27 centuries to his name.

3) The great downfall (2020-2024)

Covid-19 halted Cricket in 2020 and it changed the course of Kohli's Test career. He was never the same as the India great lost his Test captaincy, and in the 5 year period scored just 3 Test centuries. 

Barring 2023, where he somewhat revived his career, Kohli failed to deliver in 2020, 2021, 2022 and 2024 as he eventually took his retirement in May 2025, just before the squad announcement of England series.

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