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The Indian cricket fans couldn't fully recover from the news of Rohit Sharma's sudden Test retirement announcement and they had to deal with another shocker on May 10. Rohit had assumed the captaincy role for the national team in the longest format after Virat Kohli stepped down from the position in 2021, leading the side since then.
Virat Kohli mulling over Test retirement
Adding to the surprise, and coming just a couple of days after Rohit's announcement, reports are doing rounds that Virat Kohli, the most prolific run-scorer of the current era, has expressed his desire to to retire from Test cricket as well. According to a report from the Indian Express, Kohli has reportedly finalised his decision to retire from the longest format of the game.
“He has made up his mind and has informed the board that he is moving on from Test cricket. The BCCI has urged him to rethink as the crucial England tour is coming up. He is yet to revert on the request,” sources privy to the development told Indian Express.
The news popped out shortly after the mentioned week-long suspension of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025, amidst the heightened tensions at the India-Pakistan border. Despite this broader context, Virat Kohli himself has been in superb form during the ongoing IPL season, leading RCB's successful campaign that sees them currently topping the table and firmly in title contention. He currently holds the Orange Cap, having amassed 505 runs from 11 matches in IPL 2025.
However, his recent performances in Tests have reportedly been far from his usual standards, a situation that is said to have caused him mental strain. With India scheduled to tour England for a five-match Test series in June, the former India captain's reported inclination to retire from the format would put the selectors in a difficult position. Such a decision would potentially leave the middle order largely reliant on inexperienced players, needing to support established names like KL Rahul, Shubman Gill, and Yashasvi Jaiswal at the top, as well as Rishabh Pant further down the order, especially under the demanding conditions typically found in England.
Adding to the selectors' workload, they are already engaged in the crucial mission of identifying India's next long-term Test captain capable of leading the side effectively into the future. Reports suggest that Shubman Gill is currently viewed as a strong contender and reportedly considered the favourite for this significant leadership role.
Why Virat Kohli wants to retire from Test cricket?
Boasting a decorated Test career with 9,230 runs scored at an average of 46.85, including 30 centuries and 31 half-centuries, Virat Kohli is reportedly not happy with recent form in the longest format. This reported unhappiness is said to have prompted him to contemplate his future in Test cricket, a contemplation that reportedly began following a dry spell during the Border-Gavaskar Trophy series against Australia earlier this year, as referenced in the source text. During that series Down Under, Kohli's only big contribution was an unbeaten century in the first Test in Perth, a match India won convincingly by 295 runs against Australia. However, for the rest of the five-match series, Kohli reportedly failed to score even a single half-century, concluding the tour with a notably dismal average of 23.75. His batting during this period was described as becoming predictable, particularly concerning dismissals, as he was reportedly dismissed outside the off-stump on seven occasions out of his eight dismissals throughout the tour. The century scored in the Perth reportedly ended a streak of eight Test matches without reaching a hundred. Kohli's notable dip in form is traced back to after he scored a century against Bangladesh in the pink-ball Test at Eden Gardens in 2019. Between that match in Kolkata in 2019 and the Perth Test in 2024, he managed only one other Test century – an innings of 186 against Australia in the Ahmedabad Test in March 2023. Over the past five years, his average in the format has reportedly seen a decline, amassing 1,990 runs across 37 games with just three hundreds recorded during this period.
Beyond the concerns regarding his form, reports indicate that the pressure stemming from juggling commitments across three international formats, the Indian Premier League, and his family life has become increasingly demanding for Virat Kohli. As a father of two children with actress Anushka Sharma, Kohli reportedly has considerable aspects of his life to consider beyond the cricket field, especially as he looks towards potentially extending his career in the shorter formats of the game.
Despite his struggles in Tests, Kohli remains a key figure for Indian team in limited-overs formats. He is credited with having played a key role in powering India to title triumph in T20 World Cup 2024, notably scoring a match-winning 76 runs in the final match. Moreover, in Champions Trophy 2025, Kohli was central to India's success, accumulating 218 runs across the tournament, studded with a century against Pakistan and a crucial innings of 84 runs in the semi-final against Australia.
Right before the start of the IPL 2025, Kohli during an event said that as long s his love for cricket in intact he will continue to play.
“Once you start taking on the energy and the disappointment from the outside, then you start burdening yourself way more… And then you start thinking about things, like ‘I’ve got two or three days left on this tour, I need to make an impact now’. And you start getting more desperate. That’s something I’ve surely experienced in Australia as well. Because I got a good score in the first Test. I thought, ‘right, let’s go’. There’s going to be another big series for me. It doesn’t turn out that way. For me, it’s just about the acceptance of ‘okay fine, this is what happened. I’m going to be honest with myself. Where do I want to go? What are my energy levels like’,” Kohli had said.
"As long as my love for cricket is intact, I will continue to play the game. I have to be honest about that with myself,” he had added.
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