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Virat Kohli has reportedly informed the BCCI of his decision to retire from Test cricket. The BCCI has requested he reconsider, especially with the vital England tour approaching. This comes after Rohit Sharma recently retired from Tests.
Team India star batter Virat Kohli has reportedly expressed his willingness to retire from Test cricket before the England tour, which is scheduled to take place in July.
Recently, India skipper Rohit Sharma retired from the longest format of the game after he was sacked from Test captaincy ahead of the squad selection for the five-match Test series against England. Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli, who were part of the IPL 2025, which has been suspended for a week due to escalating tensions between India and Pakistan, made their last appearance in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in January this year.
Virat Kohli’s last Test appearance came in the Sydney Test, where he scored 17 and 6 in both innings. After scoring a century in the opening Test in Perth, the 36-year-old failed to maintain consistency as he could aggregate 190 runs, including a century, at an average of 23.75 in nine innings.
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BCCI asks Kohli to reconsider his decision
As per the report by The Indian Express, a source close to the BCCI stated that Virat Kohli informed the board about his decision to retire from Test cricket, but the board urged him to reconsider his decision, given the vitality of the England Test tour.
“He has made up his mind and has informed the board that he is moving on from Test cricket. The BCCI has urged him to rethink as the crucial England tour is coming up. He is yet to revert on the request,” a BCCI source told The Indian Express.
It has been reported that Kohli thought of retiring from the longest format of the game after struggling to make an impact in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy after scoring a century in the Perth opener. If Virat Kohli does not change his mind to retire from Test cricket, Team India will have a largely inexperienced batting line-up, with Shubman Gill, KL Rahul, Yashasvi Jaiswal, and Rishabh Pant being only batters with substantial experience in overseas conditions, making India’s batting order vulnerable on seaming pitches in England.
When England toured India for the five-match Test series last year, Virat Kohli withdrew from the series due to the birth of his second child, a baby boy Akaay Kohli in London. The last time India travelled to England for the Test series was in 2021/22, where Kohli had a moderate outing with the bat, scoring 249 runs, including 2 fifties, at an average of 27.66 in nine innings.
Virat Kohli’s Test career
Virat Kohli made his Test debut for India against West Indies in 2011 and went on to establish himself as one of the greatest batters for India in the longest format of the game. Kohli is the fourth leading run-getter for India in red-ball cricket, amassing 9230 runs, including 30 centuries and 31 fifties, at an average of 46.85 in 123 matches.
Virat Kohli had led Team India in Tests from 2011 until relinquishing his captaincy duties after Test series defeat against South Africa in 2022. Kohli is the most successful Indian captain with 40 wins in 68 and has a win percentage of 58.82. Kohli holds the record for being the highest run-getter for India as a Test captain, aggregating 5864 runs, including 20 centuries and 18 fifties, at an average of 54.80 in 113 innings. He is only one of the two batters after the former South Africa captain to score 20 or more centuries in the Tests as a captain.
Additionally, Virat Kohli is the first Asian captain to win the Test series in Australia when he led Team India to Border-Gavaskar Trophy triumph in 2019.
It remains to be seen whether Virat Kohli will accede to the BCCI’s request and postpone his retirement to play one final iconic Test series in England, or if he will bid farewell to the red-ball format on his own terms.
