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Ahead of the important five-match series against England, India star cricketer Virat Kohli shocked the cricketing world by announcing his retirement from the longest format. This announcement was quite surprising as the 36-year-old was expected to play a big role in the Test assignment against England. However, instead he ended up leaving a big void in the team and also left the selectors desperate to find his replacement in the short amount of time they had.
Gilchrist heaped praise on Kohli for coming to a decision
Though multiple former India cricketers have stated that Kohli should return to the format as he still has a lot of Test cricket left in him, legendary Australia wicketkeeper-batter Adam Gilchrist praised Kohli for making the tough decision to bid adieu to the format.
He further stated that Kohli would have only managed to score 1-2 more centuries more in red-ball cricket if he hadn't retired and added that those knocks wouldn't have justified his 'lofty' standards as well.
“I congratulate him. I'm really happy for him that he came to the decision himself. He didn't ride a period of speculations where a lot is said in the press, and you're judged by external voices. I made my decision during a game and announced it a day later! He obviously had a bit more time to think about it post the Australian series. I really like that he's come to a decision. It resonated with me because I always remember thinking I'd rather people say why, than why you haven't,” Gilchrist told Sports Yaari.
“Many people would probably think that if he kept playing Tests, he would find another hundred or two somewhere. But it isn't with the same lofty standards that he had set for so long. We have seen a bit of a drop from that in recent years, and he's probably acknowledged that. He's nothing to prove to anyone,” he added.
Despite his Test retirement, Kohli is still an active cricketer in the one-day format and recently also won his first-ever IPL title with the Royal Challengers Bengaluru, who defeated Punjab Kings in the final at the Narendra Modi stadium. It is likely that the batter will be seen in action during India's three-match ODI series against Bangladesh which will commence from August 17.
Kohli retired as a legend of red-ball cricket, scoring a total of 9230 runs in 123 Tests and maintaining a fantastic average of 46.85. The 36-year-old finished as India's fourth-highest run-getter in the longest format and also as the batter with the fourth most Test tons for the national team. He is undoubtedly one of the modern-day greats of red-ball cricket.
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