“Gutted, shocked and sad” at Virat Kohli’s sudden retirement from the longest format, former England skipper Michael Vaughan stated no particular person has completed extra for Test cricket than the star Indian batter.
Kohli introduced his retirement from Test cricket on Monday, drawing the curtain on a stellar red-ball profession. He represented India in 123 Tests, scoring 9,230 runs at a mean of 46.85, together with 30 centuries.
“There are not too many Test retirements where I am left genuinely disappointed that I won’t watch a cricketer play again. But I’m gutted we won’t see Virat Kohli in England this summer or in whites any more,” Vaughan wrote in his column for the Telegraph.
“I’m shocked that he’s retiring now, and I’m also quite sad about it. In my time involved in the game, stretching back more than 30 years, I don’t believe there is any individual who has done more for the Test format than Virat.”
Kohli led India to 40 wins in 68 Tests — probably the most by any Indian skipper so far — and Vaughan stated it was the 36-year-old Indian who introduced the love again to the standard format, and the five-day recreation would have been a “far blander place” without him.
“When he took the captaincy just over a decade ago, I was worried India was losing interest in Test cricket,” stated the 50-year-old, who served as England Test captain from 2003 to 2008.
“MS Dhoni was one of the great white-ball players but it felt like he captained a Test team who did not love the format. The game needs India to be madly in love with Test cricket, and that is what Virat fostered as captain.
“His ardour, talent, and the way in which he talked about Test cricket at all times being the head has been a enormous shot within the arm for the format. Test cricket would have been a far blander place without him, and there may be a likelihood it would have misplaced its attraction if he had not been as and invested in it.”
Vaughan described Kohli as the greatest player across all formats and called his retirement a blow to Test cricket.
“His retirement now’s a blow to Test cricket and really disappointing for followers – not least in England this summer season – however my perception is that he has helped forge a love for the format among the many technology that can comply with him, and saved the flame burning,” wrote the former opening batter.
“It’s not possible to match throughout each period, however if you happen to have a look at since T20 got here in round 20 years in the past, he’s nearly actually the best participant when you think about all three codecs.”
There has been a lot of criticism around Kohli’s on-field aggressive persona but Vaughan feels the Indian superstar didn’t have such a big ego as has been made out to be.
“All nice gamers have egos, however possibly Virat’s wasn’t fairly as huge as we thought. Perhaps household life has mellowed him a bit, and he simply desires as regular a life as he probably can, which might be going to be in London, the place he spends a lot of time now.
“Those outside that bubble really can’t imagine what it’s like being a Kohli or a Sachin Tendulkar, with the pressure of billions of adoring fans on your shoulders.”
Published – May 15, 2025 03:44 am IST
