Former India cricketer Robin Uthappa urged batting great Virat Kohli to rescind his Test retirement ahead of the upcoming three-match ODI series against New Zealand. Kohli, who exclusively told sports Tak during his early days that he wanted to score 10000 runs in the longest format of the game, shocked everyone by announcing his Test retirement on May 12. 2025.
Uthappa took his 'X' to share a picture of Virat Kohli, where the chase master is sweating out in nets before the three-match ODI series against New Zealand, captioned "Them eyes tell u a story".
"Surely it’s time to rescind his test retirement. Would love to see him back in Test cricket" the post further reads.
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Virat Kohli's Test career
Kohli represented India in 123 Tests, where he amassed 9,230 runs at 46.85 average, 30 centuries (7 double centuries - most by an Indian), and 31 fifties. Notably, Kohli-led India became the first ever Asian Team who defeatead Australia in a Test series on their home soil.
Virat Kohli's upcoming outing
Kohli, who already retired from Tests and T20Is, will now be seen featuring in the three-match ODI series against New Zealand, which is scheduled to start from January 11. The batting maestro's last international outing came during the three-match ODI series against South Africa, where he smashed two consecutive centuries and one unbeaten half-century. After that, he also represented Delhi in two Vijay Hazare Trophy matches, where he smashed one century.
India vs New Zealand ODI schedule
| Match | Date | Venue | Time (IST) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st ODI | Sunday, 11 Jan 2026 | BCA Stadium, Kotambi, Vadodara | 1:30 PM |
| 2nd ODI | Wednesday, 14 Jan 2026 | Niranjan Shah Stadium, Rajkot | 1:30 PM |
| 3rd ODI | Sunday, 18 Jan 2026 | Holkar Cricket Stadium, Indore | 1:30 PM |
India's ODI squad against New Zealand
Shubman Gill (C), Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, KL Rahul (WK), Shreyas Iyer (VC)*, Washington Sundar, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohd Siraj, Harshit Rana, Prasidh Krishna, Kuldeep Yadav, Rishabh Pant (WK), Nitish Kumar Reddy, Arshdeep Singh, Yashasvi Jaiswal