'Needed his class and experience in England series...': India great shares his take on Virat Kohli retiring before Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy

Former India cricketer Dilip Vengsarkar feels that Virat Kohli could have retired from Test cricket after featuring in the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy. This comes after Kohli had shocked the cricketing world earlier in May by announcing his retirement from the longest format. The 36-year-old was expected to play a major role in the five-match series against England, however the sudden announcement left the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) with no choice but to look for the star batter's replacement ahead of the important tour.

Kohli retired from red-ball cricket after playing 123 matches and scoring 9230 runs, including 30 hundreds and 31 half-centuries. He is undoubtedly one of the modern-day greats of the format and played many knocks which will live fresh in the minds of Indian fans for a long long time.

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Vengsarkar believes that Kohli's experience would have been quite helpful for the Indian team in the series against England and stated that if he were the chief selector, then he would have asked the batter to take his retirement after featuring in the series.

"If I was the India chief selector, I would have persuaded Virat to bid goodbye to Test cricket after playing the England series. We needed his class and experience in this series," Vengsarkar told the Times of India.

Additionally, Vengsarkar was left quite impressed with the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) for putting out great pitches which helped in making the series even more thrilling. He further remarked that the recently-concluded series will be 'remembered for ages'.

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"I must appreciate the culture of Test cricket in England. Threr were huge crowds for all the Tests, and the sporting wickets ensured that the result of all the five Tests was decided on the fifth and final day. This series, which will be remembered for ages, has revived the interest of Test cricket in cricket lovers. It has increased Test cricket's importance. This shows that if you dish out good pitches, Test cricket can not just survive, but flourish too," Vengsarkar stated.

India's next Test opponent will be West Indies

Meanwhile, India's next Test assignment will be two-match home series against West Indies which will commence from October 2. The Men in Blue currently sit on the third place on the World Test Championship (WTC) points table and will be looking to make more gains on the standings with the upcoming series against the Caribbean side.