India great Virat Kohli has retired from test cricket after playing 123 matches in his glorious 14-year red-ball career
India great Virat Kohli retires from test cricketBy CHETAN NARULAAssociated PressThe Associated PressNEW DELHI, India
NEW DELHI, India (AP) — India great Virat Kohli retired from test cricket Monday after playing 123 matches in his glorious 14-year red-ball career.
Kohli made his test debut in 2011 against West Indies and has been India’s standout batter since Sachin Tendulkar’s retirement in 2013.
“As I step away from this format, it’s not easy — but it feels right,” Kohli posted on Instagram. “It’s been 14 years since I first wore the baggy blue in Test cricket. Honestly, I never imagined the journey this format would take me on. It’s tested me, shaped me, and taught me lessons I’ll carry for life.”
The 36-year-old Kohli’s retirement comes only days after Rohit Sharma stepped down from test cricket, taking two senior batters out of selection contention for India’s tour to England. India will need to select a new skipper and reshape its batting order for the five-test series starting June 20.
Kohli scored 9,230 runs including 30 centuries and 31 half-centuries at a test batting average of 46.85. He also led India in 68 test matches and was India’s most successful captain with 40 test wins.
The former India captain is one of the highest-profile people in cricket, with 271 million followers on Instagram and almost 68 million on X, and he owns batting records in the longest and the limited-overs formats. He’s expected to continue playing one-day international cricket, and he’s still heavily involved in the lucrative Twenty20 Indian Premier League, which was suspended last Friday for a week following the escalating military tensions with Pakistan.
Kohli said the traditions and ebbs and flows of the five-day format were special to him, including “the quiet grind, the long days, the small moments that no one sees but that stay with you forever.”
“I am walking away with a heart full of gratitude — for the game, for the people I shared the field with, and for every single person who made me feel seen along the way,” he wrote. “I will always look back at my test career with a smile. #269, signing off.”
Kohli finished as India’s fourth highest scorer in tests after Tendulkar (15,921), Rahul Dravid (13,265) and Sunil Gavaskar (10,122). He also scored the most double centuries for India in tests — seven — one more than the legendary Tendulkar.
His crowning glory in test cricket, though, came as captain. His 40 test wins set a record for an India captain, surpassing MS Dhoni (27 from 60 tests) and Sourav Ganguly (21 from 49 tests).
He finished fourth in the all-time list of most wins as test captain, behind South Africa’s Graeme Smith (53 from 109 tests), and Australia’s Ricky Ponting (48 from 77 tests) and Stephen Waugh (41 from 57 tests).
Kohli also led India to the International Cricket Council’s No. 1 ranking in test cricket after taking over from Dhoni in 2014-15, and helped his side maintain a stronghold on that position for five years.
In 2018, he guided India to its first ever test series victory against Australia in Australia.
Speculation over Kohli’s test future has intensified since India’s five-test tour of Australia finished in January. After scoring a 30th test hundred in Perth, Kohli’s series tapered off and he finished it with 190 runs in nine innings at average 23.75. Still, his impact on the game in India and around the cricket world has been huge.
“Thank you, Virat Kohli. An era ends in test cricket but the legacy will continue forever,” the Board of Control for Cricket in India posted in a statement on X. “His contributions to team India will forever be cherished!”
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