By Nick Hoult
Virat Kohli will retire from Test cricket after he informed the Indian board of his intention to give up the red-ball game with immediate effect, according to reports in the country.
Officials from the BCCI have asked Kohli to reconsider and have been in talks with him for a month. They want his experience in the team for the five-Test England series that starts in June. Earlier this week, another Indian great, captain Rohit Sharma, announced his retirement.
Virat Kohli and Jasprit Bumrah at the SCG earlier this year.Credit: Getty Images
The Indian selectors are meeting over the weekend to pick the squad and name a new captain. Kohli is the world’s leading cricket star and a strong advocate for Test cricket despite his career spanning the rise of the Indian Premier League.
Kohli, 36, has played 123 Tests across 14 years scoring 9230 runs at an average of 47, but his powers have dimmed in recent years.
He made a century in Perth in November which was his first Test hundred for 18 months but faded in the series to average only 23. He is currently enjoying a good IPL. He was the tournament’s second leading run scorer before the league was suspended for a week on Friday due to the ongoing tensions with Pakistan.
England will face an India team in transition this summer. Shubman Gill is expected to be appointed captain. Ravichandran Ashwin retired from Test cricket this year and Mohammed Shami, a crucial bowler in English conditions, has not fully recaptured his from after a long injury lay off following the 2023 World Cup.
Kohli’s spiky competitiveness made him a controversial character on the field but also one of cricket’s most captivating figures. His record in England was mixed. On his first tour he struggled with the moving Duke ball and averaged just 13 in ten innings but in 2018 he returned and was the leading scorer across both sides with an average of 59 and two hundreds.
In Australia, on the hard fast pitches that can unsettle Indian batsmen, he was superb with seven centuries, refusing to back down in the face of Australian aggression and giving as good as he received.
He captained India 68 times, leading from the front with an average of 54.80, and was a strong supporter of the format. His drive turned India into a dominant force home and away.
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