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"Virat Should've Played 2026 T20 World Cup" CSK Legend Believes Kohli Retired Early

Akshita Patel

Virat Kohli is in sublime form [Source: AP]Virat Kohli is in sublime form [Source: AP]

Virat Kohli, one of India’s greatest cricketers, retired from the T20I format after helping India win the ICC T20 World Cup in 2024. Former Indian player Suresh Raina thinks Kohli retired prematurely and must have held on until the 2026 World Cup.

Virat Kohli had an outstanding T20I career. He played 125 games and made 4188 runs at an average of 48.69. His record consists of 1 century, 38 fifties, 124 fours, and 54 sixes.

In T20 World Cups alone, Kohli scored 1292 runs, the most by any player. He also holds the record for the most runs in a single edition (319 in 2014) and the most 50+ scores (15) in T20 World Cup history.

Suresh Raina Believes Virat Kohli Jumped The Gun On T20 Retirement

India beat South Africa by 7 runs in the 2024 T20 World Cup final and lifted the trophy. After this big win, Virat Kohli decided to step away from T20Is to give younger players more chances. 

However, Suresh Raina believes the star cricketer still has steam to run until 2026. He opined that Kohli is fit and should have played in the 2026 T20 World Cup.

“He took early retirement. Kohli should have played in the 2026 T20 World Cup. We saw his performance in the ICC Champions Trophy 2025. His running between the wicket and his IPL performances show that a lot of cricket is left in him,” Raina said.

Along with Kohli, Rohit Sharma and Ravindra Jadeja also retired from T20Is after the 2024 World Cup win. It was the end of an era, but fans and critics like Raina still feel Kohli could’ve played a bit longer.

Kohli Completes 3500 Runs At Chinnaswamy

Virat Kohli is once again showing why he’s one of the best in the world, and in a recent IPL 2025 match against Rajasthan Royals, he reached an incredible milestone, 3500 T20 runs at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru. With this, Kohli became the first cricketer ever to score 3500 runs at a single venue in T20 cricket. Overall, Kohli now has more than 13,000 runs in T20 cricket, with nine centuries and an average above 40.