Former Indian Test captain Virat Kohli retiring from his favourite format has not gone down well with many. There have been speculations of what happened the behind the scenes leading to Kohli's retirement whereas chief selector Ajit Agarkar said that he was informed about the decision in April. Now, Australia women's cricket team captain Alyssa Healy has said that she doesn't think Kohli was ready to give up on Test cricket yet. She said she saw a video of Kohli hit red balls during the ongoing IPL 2025.
"Given he doesn't exactly need to play the final, pack his bags, and get out to England. I was speaking to someone in the last week with a knowledge of the situation, and I think there's more to come in the whole story of the Gambhir-Kohli relationship," said Australian broadcaster Adam Peacock on The Willow Talk podcast.
"I saw a video of him hitting red balls during IPL. Something's gone on in the last couple of weeks. I don't know what it is. I was like, 'interesting'. I don't think he was ready to give it up. I would say that," wicketkeeper-batter Healy, wife of left-arm pacer Mitchell Starc replied.
'Reconsider decision to retire from Test cricket' - IPL Chairman
In the absence of senior trio, Shubman Gill will lead the 18-man Test squad in England. Meanwhile, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is still hopeful of Kohli reconsidering his decision. While fans on social media wonder if this is Kohli's last Indian Premier League (IPL), the league's chairman Arun Dhumal said that he wants the 36-year-old to reconsider his decision about red-ball cricket.
"Virat is the greatest ambassador for cricket. And the kind of commitment he has shown, I would say Virat is to cricket what [Novak] Djokovic or Roger Federer is to tennis. So I would want him to continue playing IPL and I would rather want him to reconsider his decision to retire from Test cricket," Dhumal told PTI.
While Kohli has bid goodbye to Test and T20Is, he will be seen in action in the IPL 2025 final for his franchise Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) against Punjab Kings (PBKS) on June 3 at Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad.