Virat Kohli retires from Test cricket

Virat Kohli bids farewell to test cricket

Undoubtedly, Virat Kohli was the greatest batter of his generation across formats. He faced tough competition from Steve Smith, Joe Root, and Kane Williamson in different parts of his test career. However, more often than not, Kohli stood out among the rest. 

As a skipper, with 40 victories, he had the fourth-most wins in the format and was India’s most successful captain in test cricket. Only Steve Waugh (41), Ricky Ponting (48), and Graeme Smith (53) had more wins than Kohli. 

It couldn’t have been an easy decision for the 36-year-old, given the form he had shown in the Champions Trophy and the IPL 2025, albeit in different formats. The right-hander was among the runs in both competitions and would have loved to transfer the form into red-ball cricket with India taking on England starting the WTC 2025-27 campaign.

In his post, Kohli talked about how even though it is pretty difficult to step away from test cricket, it probably is the right decision. His form since 2020 has been abysmal in the format.

Virat Kohli’s struggles in recent years

Since 2020, Kohli had struggled to score runs at a decent average. Since 2020, the right-handed batter managed to make only 2,028 runs in 69 innings. During the time period, he averaged only 30.72. While other players have also faced slumps like these but not many have managed to get out of them. With Kohli, many believed that he would be able to jump right back into form with a big score, however, that was not to be. 

During the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, which was his last assignment as a test cricketer, Kohli managed to score a century at Perth but could not carry on with the same level of form. He scored only 90 runs in the next eight innings. He was 800-odd runs shy of the elusive 10,000-run mark in the longest format, but given his recent form, it would have been a tough task for him to get to the milestone. 

World of Cricket reacts as Kohli announces retirement

Virat Kohli was certainly a global superstar in the game of cricket. While Sachin Tendulkar made the game popular amongst the previous two generations, Kohli inspired a whole other generation to play test cricket while T20 cricket was in its infancy.

Many cricketers took to their social media accounts to not only congratulate Kohli on a glorious test career but also thanked him for the kind of impact he left on the format. 

Virat Kohli Likely to Play County Cricket After Test Retirement?

After Virat Kohli announced his retirement from Test cricket on May 12, Middlesex expressed interest in signing the Indian cricket legend. Kohli ended a remarkable Test career with 123 matches, 9,230 runs, 30 centuries, and 31 fifties. While he hasn’t commented on his first-class future, Middlesex director Alan Coleman confirmed their desire to start discussions. The county, which plays home matches at Lord’s, sees Kohli as a major draw. If signed, Kohli could play in the County Championship or Metro Bank Cup, potentially forming a star-studded middle order with Kane Williamson and renewing rivalries like that with James Anderson.