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"No One Has Done More For..." Michael Vaughan Credits Virat Kohli For Saving Test Cricket

Jatin

Virat Kohli and Michael Vaughan [Source: @Hashim__Butt, @mufaddal_vohra/x.com]Virat Kohli and Michael Vaughan [Source: @Hashim__Butt, @mufaddal_vohra/x.com]

Virat Kohli might have taken off his Test whites for the last time but the impact he has left on the format is anything but fading. And one of the most heartfelt tributes has come from former England captain Michael Vaughan, who wrote an emotional and deeply respectful column hailing Kohli’s contributions to the red-ball game.

Michael Vaughan Pays Glowing Tribute to Virat Kohli

As India gear up for a high-stakes five-match Test series in England without their two modern giants Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma, Vaughan didn’t hold back in reminding the world just how much Kohli meant to Test cricket.

For Vaughan, Kohli was the face, voice, and soul of modern-day Test cricket. The passion he brought to every session, every single, every stare-down, it brought eyeballs back to the format when the world was drifting towards the glamour of T20s.

“More than 30 years, I don’t believe there is any individual who has done more for the Test format than Virat. When he took the captaincy just over a decade ago, I was worried India was losing interest in Test cricket. MS Dhoni was one of the great white-ball players but it felt like he captained a Test team who did not love the format. The game needs India to be madly in love with Test cricket, and that is what Virat fostered as captain. His passion, skill, and the way he talked about Test cricket always being the pinnacle has been a huge shot in the arm for the format. Test cricket would have been a far blander place without him, and there is a chance it would have lost its appeal if he had not been as interested and invested in it,” wrote Vaughan.

That is high praise from someone who has seen the game evolve up close.

Kohli’s Numbers In England Speak for Themselves

Virat Kohli played 28 Test matches against England, stacking up 1,991 runs at an average of 42.36. Out of those, 17 were in England, where he scored 1,096 runs with two centuries and five fifties.

But more than the numbers, it was the duels, especially against James Anderson, that became the stuff of cricketing legend. Vaughan specifically pointed to that 2018 Edgbaston clash, where the Kohli-Anderson saga reached its peak.

“His battles with Anderson, not least at Edgbaston in 2018, were magnificent, a great spectacle. It was a proper heavyweight contest, with two world beaters going up against each other. It was so enthralling. Jimmy often had the wood over Kohl and with him gone, I thought he’d come out and play with a real flamboyancy this summer, and go on the attack.”

Vaughan Wanted Kohli Back As Captain

In a surprise revelation, Michael Vaughan also shared that he thought the BCCI should have handed the reins back to Kohli for one last shot in England, especially after Rohit Sharma’s retirement.

“India will miss him. I do wonder if he fancied another crack at the captaincy but wasn’t given that opportunity. I think if he wanted it, I would have given it to him for this tour because there was some unfinished business in England.”

And he is not wrong. The infamous unfinished 2021 tour halted due to COVID was a series where India had their nose in front. When they returned a year later, Kohli was no longer skipper and England had transformed into the Bazball brigade.

A Farewell But Not Forgotten

Virat Kohli leaving Test cricket before one final English summer feels like a missed chapter in an epic saga. For someone who brought raw emotion, fierce competitiveness and iconic moments to red-ball cricket, this series without him will feel incomplete.