Former Indian head coach Ravi Shastri, expressing his views on Virat Kohli’s sudden retirement from Test cricket, has said that Kohli’s retirement could have been handled better. Virat Kohli and Ravi Shastri, as captain and coach, respectively, took Team India to new heights during their tenure. Kohli, meanwhile, announced his retirement from Test cricket last month after playing 123 matches and scoring 9,230 runs.
The ferocious competitor Kohli scored 30 centuries and 31 half-centuries in his glittering 14-year career in Test cricket. He was widely regarded as the ambassador of Test cricket and has had an eventful Test career with stunning moments and hard-fought comebacks.
"Virat has announced his retirement from Test matches, which is sad, you know, because he's a great player. A great player. It's only when you go that people truly realise how big a player you were. Stats don’t do justice — it’s about the way he carried himself, especially as an ambassador for Test match cricket, particularly overseas. The way he played at Lord’s, and how his team turned things around — it was unreal. And I’m glad I was a part of it," Shastri said on Sony Sports Network.
"I feel sad that he's gone the way he has — suddenly. I think it could have been handled better, maybe with more communication."
"If I had anything to do with it, I would’ve made him captain straight after Australia," he added.
Virat Kohli ended his Test career as India’s fourth highest Test run-getter.