Former New Zealand captain Kane Williamson, who shares a very good bond with former India skipper Virat Kohli, breaks his silence after he retires from Tests. Kohli announced his Test retirement on May 12 during the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025. Before Kohli, India captain Rohit Sharma also announced his retirement from the longest format of the game.
Williamson, who is currently in England, believes that Kohli made his decision to hang up the boots because it feels comfortable to him.
"All good things come to an end, and the way he's been able to make those decisions that feel comfortable to him, I think it's been incredible going out on his terms, etc. Although still involved in one of the formats," said Kane Williamson as quoted by TOI.
Kohli's Test retirement came before the ongoing Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy 2025, and there were talks that the former cricketer was forced to retire, but BCCI vice-president Rajeev Shukla turned down all the suggestions and stated that the BCCI have a strict policy of not telling any player when to retire.
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"I want to make it very clear once and for all. We all feel Rohit and Virat's absence, but they took the decision on their own. BCCI has a policy of never telling any player when to retire and from which format. This is on the player. This was their own decision. They took retirement on their own. We will always miss them. We consider them great batters. The good thing is they are available in ODIs," said Shuka in an interaction with ANI.
Kohli's last Test outing came in Australia during the five-Test match series of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25, where he managed to score 190 runs, including an unbeaten ton in the first Test. Australia defeated India 3-1 to seal their berth for World Test Championship (WTC) final.