Indian batting superstar Virat Kohli brought the curtains down on his glorious career in Test cricket by announcing his retirement from the format on May 12. Kohli’s retirement came just days after Rohit Sharma called time on his Test career on May 7. The great Kohli ended his 14-year career with a humongous record in the longest format, amassing 9,230 runs in 123 Tests to finish as India’s fourth-highest run-scorer in the red-ball format.
Kohli also scored 30 centuries and 31 half-centuries in his dazzling Test career. The retirement of Kohli and Rohit came a month before India’s five-match Test series in England, leaving a huge void in the team’s batting attack. Reflecting on Kohli’s journey in Test cricket, former England captain Nasser Hussain commended Kohli’s agility and relentless perseverance.
"I have been a massive Virat Kohli fan over the last 14 years – his stats speak for themselves – but he was so much more than that. It was his aura, swagger, and passion. We know Indian cricket fans, and the game means so much to them. They want their captain to show them what it means to the team, and no one embodied that passion for cricket in India more than Kohli,” Nasir Hussain stated on Sky Sports Cricket podcast.
Kohli was known as a chase master, always playing a pivotal role for the side despite being under pressure.
"He is the ultimate winner, he sees the end goal as a win, and he is desperate for that. Everything for Kohli is about winning. Why do you think he's so good in run chases? He can't go on the field and not be a hundred per cent, he can't ever go: 'I'll just do my best today'. That may have formed part of his retirement decision, he doesn't want to be a normal cricketer, just doing a little bit here and there. He made India into the force they are today," added Hussain.