BREAKING! Virat Kohli Announces Retirement From Test Cricket

Anurag Dasgupta

Kohli announces retirement [Source: @NaeemCeption/x.com]Kohli announces retirement [Source: @NaeemCeption/x.com]

The inevitable happened and India great, Virat Kohli announced his retirement from Test cricket on Monday. There were reports circulating that Kohli had written an email to BCCI, citing his desire to retire, however, the board urged him to reconsider his decision.

However, on Monday, Kohli finally announced his decision in an emotional post via his Instagram handle.

Last week, Rohit Sharma announced his retirement from Tests and speculations began on Kohli's future as the India great was going through a slump in Tests.

Virat Kohli's slump in Test cricket

Kohli was going through a rough patch in the game's longest format since the last few years. Post 2020, his numbers went down and barring 2023, he failed to deliver the goods. The final nail in the coffin was the Border-Gavaskar Trophy against Australia, where he slammed a brilliant ton in Perth, but couldn't do much in the remaining four matches as India suffered a crushing defeat.

Post that, Rohit retired and then Kohli followed his footsteps as India will now travel to England with an inexperienced squad.

The captain who prioritised Test cricket

When MS Dhoni retired from Tests after the 2014-15 BGT, Kohli was appointed the captain and at that point of time, India were 7th in the ICC rankings. However, when the Delhi cricketer left the captaincy in 2022, India were the number 1 ranked side.

He prioritised Test cricket over other formats and made India a force to reckon, not only at home, but in tricky overseas conditions as well. In 123 matches, he amassed 9230 runs, including 30 hundreds.