India’s great Virat Kohli announced his retirement from Test cricket on May 12 after playing 123 matches in his glorious 14-year red-ball career.
The 36-year-old Kohli’s retirement comes only days after Rohit Sharma announced that he will also be stepping down from Test cricket, taking two senior batters out of selection for India’s tour to England beginning on June 20.
Kohli made his Test debut in 2011 against the West Indies and has been India’s standout batter since Sachin Tendulkar retired 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.”
Kohli scored 9,230 runs with 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.
He’s expected to continue playing One-day International Cricket, and he’s still heavily involved in the lucrative Twenty20 Indian Premier League.
Kohli said the five-day format’s traditions and ebbs and flows 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 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 behind Tendulkar (15,921), Rahul Dravid (13,265), and Sunil Gavaskar (10,122).
His 40 Test wins set a record for an Indian captain, ahead of MS Dhoni (27 from 60 Tests) and Sourav Ganguly (21 from 49 Tests).
He finished fourth in the list of most wins as Test captain, behind South Africa’s Graeme Smith (53 from 109 Tests), Australia’s Ricky Ponting (48 from 77 Tests), and Stephen Waugh (41 from 57 Tests).
“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!”
