Former India captain Virat Kohli revealed his bond with Ravi Shastri, who was the head coach when Team India took the Test team to new heights. Shastri was India's head coach when the Virat Kohli-led side created history by becoming the first Asian Team to defeat Australia on their soil in a Test series.
During his conversation at the YouWeCan cancer fundraiser in London, Kohli said that without Shastri, it wouldn't be possible for the team to achieve that success in the longest format of the game.
"Honestly, if I wasn't working with him... what happened in Test cricket wouldn't have been possible. The clarity that we had together is very hard to find. It's everything for cricketers to grow in their careers" said Kohli
Kohli recalled when Shastri attended the media after India's losses and took the bullets from the front line and also gave him credit for playing a massive part in his cricketing journey.
"Even he hadn't backed me the way he did... those press conferences where he took the bullets from the front line. Things would have been different and I always have respect and regard for him, for being a massive part of my cricketing journey," added Kohli.
Kohli is one of the best captains to lead India in whites. He recently announced retirement from Tests after a poor outing in Australia during the five-Test match series of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25. Kohli's last red-ball outing came in a Ranji Trophy 2025 match for Delhi against Railways at Arun Jatley Stadium in New Delhi. The batting great announced his retirement before the five-Test match series of the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy 2025. Virat Kohli has played 123 Test matches where he scored 9,230 Test runs, 30 centuries at an average of 46.85 with a highest score of 254*. He made his Test debut in 2011 against the West Indies and played his final match earlier this year against Australia at the Sydney Cricket Ground.