Virat Kohli retires from Test cricket

Virat Kohli, famous Indian batsman, has declared his immediate retirement from Test cricket. In 123 Test matches, the former captain of India amassed 9230 runs at an average of 46.85, including 30 hundreds.

As cricket moved to three formats and a vibrant franchise ecosystem, Kohli also left as India's most successful Test captain and a passionate champion for the longest format.
"It's been 14 years since I first wore the baggy blue in Test cricket," Kohli said on Instagram on Monday, May 12. To be honest, I had no idea the path this format would lead me down. It has put me to the test, molded me, and given me lifelong lessons.
"Playing in whites carries a very particular meaning. The long days, the quiet grind, and the little moments that nobody notices but that stick with you forever.

It's difficult for me to leave this format, but it feels right. It has returned far more than I could have imagined after I gave it everything I had.

"I'm leaving with a heart full of appreciation for the game, the teammates I played with, and everyone who helped me feel like I was seen.

"I'll always grin when I think back on my Test career. #269, concluding."
Following the retirements of Rohit Sharma and Ravichandran Ashwin, Kohli's decision to leave Test cricket marks a significant change that Indian cricket hasn't seen since the departures of Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman in 2012 and then Sachin Tendulkar and Virender Sehwag.

Months after being a member of a squad that won the ODI World Cup, Kohli made his Test debut in 2011 against the West Indies at Sabina Park. After a difficult first year of adjusting to the longer format, he settled in in 2012 with a brilliant 116 against Australia in Adelaide, a place that would hold great meaning for him.
He returned to the South Australian capital for India's subsequent tour in 2014, where he led the team as a stand-in captain and scored twin hundreds in a close loss.

Following MS Dhoni's retirement in Melbourne a few weeks later, Kohli formally assumed that leadership position in Sydney, and it quickly became permanent.
After the monkey was off his back, Kohli added six more double hundreds over the following three years, concluding with the most for India and the joint-fourth most overall. He didn't accomplish the milestone until July 2016, when he faced the West Indies in North Sound.

However, runs dropped as his career came to a conclusion. Before finally breaking it against Australia in 2023 on a flat track in Ahmedabad, he had a protracted drought following a century against Bangladesh in the famous pink-ball Test at Eden Gardens in 2019.

The SCG, a nation and a location that has seen some of Kohli's biggest victories as a player and captain, hosted his farewell outing in India's whites in January 2025.

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