South Africa pace legend Allan Donald believes that batting great Virat Kohli retired from Test cricket a touch sooner, but he is confident that the run machine has the hunger to keep himself going till the 2027 ODI World Cup. Notably, Kohli announced his Test retirement on May 12, 2025, after a dismal outing in Australia during the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25.
Virat Kohli's Test career
Kohli, who became the first-ever Indian captain to win a Test series on Australian soil, has finished his long and successful Test career, having played 123 matches for India, scoring 9,230 runs, including 30 centuries and 31 half-centuries.
Allan Donald on Virat Kohli's future
Donald, who shares a good bond with Kohli while working as the bowling coach of Royal Challengers Bengaluru in IPL 2014-15, cited the batter's excellent work ethic to back his thought.
"You know, I don't think I've ever seen hunger in a player other than Virat. I've got massive respect for him. I often talk about it in the dressing rooms and chats about being a champion trainer. There's no one that trains as hard as him. He is just a machine," Donald told a select media gathering during SA20.
“I actually miss him in the Test match arena. I think he's retired too early, but yeah, I look with no doubt we will see him in the white-ball arena in the World Cup very, very soon," he added.
Virat Kohli's current assignment
Virat Kohli is currently featuring for India in the three-match ODI series against New Zealand. The batting great is in lethal form as he smashed two centuries and one unbeaten half-century in his last international assignment against South Africa. The batting great's most recent outing came in the Vijay Hazare Trophy 2025-26 for Delhi, where he scored a century against Railways.
India vs New Zealand 1st ODI
Coming back to 1st ODI against New Zealand, India captain Shubman Gill won the toss and opted to bowl at BCA Stadium, Kotambi, Vadodara. The Men in Blue featured with six bowlers in their playing XI, with Gill saying he wants to "try different combinations and see how that works".
Washington Sundar, Kuldeep Yadav and Ravindra Jadeja have been included as spin-bowling options, while Harshit Rana, Mohammed Siraj and Prasidh Krishna are the pacers. NZ skipper Michael Bracewell said Kristian Clarke will be making his ODI debut.