India's chief selector Ajit Agarkar revealed that former skipper Virat Kohli met him in April and told him about his decision to announce his retirement from Tests. Notably, Kohli announced his Test retirement on May 12 ahead of the five-Test match series against England which is scheduled to start from June 20.
While addressing the media during India's squad announcement for the upcoming England Tests, Agarkar responded that Kohli told him about his Test retirement in early April.
"When guys like that retire, always big holes to fill. Ashwin also retired. Those three have been stalwarts. Always difficult. One way of looking at it is, opportunity for someone else. Had conversations with both of them. Virat reached out early April, seem him give 200% every ball he plays even when he's not batting or on the field. Felt he'd given everything he had, if he can't keep up to the standards it was time for him. It's come from him. Have to respect that. They've earned that respect" said Agarkar.
Kohli's last Test outing came during the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25 in Australia, where the batting great managed to score 190 runs in five Test outings. He started the series with an unbeaten ton in the first Test but failed to carry the momentum further.
Before Kohli, skipper Rohit Sharma had also announced his retirement from Tests and the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) announced Shubman Gill as India's new captain.
India vs England five-Test match schedule
| India vs England five-match Test series full schedule | ||||
| Test | Date | Venue | City | Time |
| 1st | 20th June | Headingley | Leeds | 3:30 PM IST |
| 2nd | 2nd July | Lord's cricket ground | London | 3:30 PM IST |
| 3rd | 10th July | Emirates Old Trafford | Manchester | 3:30 PM IST |
| 4th | 23rd July | Edgbaston | Birmingham | 3:30 PM IST |
| 5th | 31st July | Kennington Oval | London | 3:30 PM IST |
India squad for England series
Shubman Gill(C), Rishabh Pant(vc), Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Sai Sudharsan, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Karun Nair, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Ravindra Jadeja, Dhruv Jurel, Washington Sundar, Shardul Thakur, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Parishdh Krishna, Akashdeep, Arshdeep Singh, Kuldeep Yadav