Not because of poor form, Australia great believes Virat Kohli announces Test retirement due to this reason

Former Australian cricketer Greg Chappell believes that Virat Kohli's Test retirement came due to the lack of mental clarity, not because of his prolonged poor form in the longest format of the game. India batting great Kohli has announced his Test retirement ahead of the all-important tour of England. The modern-day great was dealing with a lean patch in Tests since 2020 and hence people believed that it was Kohli’s inability to match his old consistency that pushed him into retirement.

However, Greg Chappell reckons that his decision to hang up the boots from the whites was due to the lack of mental clarity. Chappel mentioned that Kohli accepted that his body was faltering as his mind wasn’t in line with it.

"His decision was not born of diminished skill, but from the growing realisation that he could no longer summon the mental clarity that had once made him so formidable. He accepted that, at the highest level, unless the mind is sharp and decisive, the body falters,” Chappell wrote in his column for ESPNcricinfo.

Furthermore, Chappell mentioned how a lack of mental clarity can affect decision-making and footwork at the crease.

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"When doubt begins to settle in the bones, it disrupts decision-making, impairs footwork, and erodes the spontaneity essential to elite performance. Kohli's retirement is a reminder that form is more a function of the mind than it is of mechanics," Chapell wrote.

Kohli announced his retirement on May 12 after having played 123 Tests and scoring 9230 runs in his career at an average of 46.85 with 30 centuries and 31 fifties to his name. He was dealing with poor form since 2020, having scored just 2028 runs from 39 matches (69 innings) at an average of 30.72 with three hundreds and nine fifties to his name. Since 2024, he scored 440 runs to his name from 11 matches (21 innings) at an average of 23.15 with one hundred and one fifty to his name.

Kohli's last Test outing came in Australia during the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25 where he managed to score 190 runs in five Tests, including an unbeaten ton in the first clash. India lost that series 3-1 to