After 14 years dazzling in whites, Virat Kohli has announced his retirement from Test cricket, prompting a collective sigh around English grounds. India are the headline visitors this summer – Kohli’s brooding features have long been on the posters – but instead he will be watching on like the rest of us.
News began to percolate over the weekend, the Indian Express breaking the story, just days after Rohit Sharma called time on his own Test career. With all due respect to Sharma, a player whose peaks were significant, Kohli leaving the stage feels more seismic: the end of an era both for Indian cricket and the world game.
Although perhaps that should read the beginning of the end, with Kohli the first of the so-called “Fab Four” to hang up his bat. Joe Root, Steve Smith and Kane Williamson are still churning out the runs, while Kohli, the eldest by a fraction at 36, had started to taper off. Already retired from T20s, only his role as the greatest ODI chaser in history – perhaps driven by a shot at a second World Cup win in late 2027 – remains.
The lean final period in Test cricket over the past three years will fade in time, however, and the final ledger still places him among the elite. Kohli’s 9,230 runs from 123 Tests – each one accrued with a sumptuous right-handed technique and a burning intensity – put him fourth on India’s all-time list, likewise the 30 Test centuries he finessed.
As a captain, Kohli’s career Test average of 46.8 jumped by eight runs, with 40 wins from 68 between 2014 and 2022 the best record of any Indian and delivering a lengthy spell as the world’s No 1-ranked side. Alongside Ravi Shastri, a head coach who was similarly uncompromising, Kohli drove standards in all aspects of Indian cricket through the roof.
“It’s been 14 years since I first wore the baggy blue in Test cricket,” Kohli told his 272 million Instagram followers on Monday. “Honestly, I never imagined the journey this format would take me on. It’s tested me, shaped me, and taught me lessons I’ll carry for life.
“There’s something deeply personal about playing in whites. The quiet grind, the long days, the small moments that no one sees but that stay with you forever. As I step away from this format, it’s not easy – but it feels right. I’ve given it everything I had, and it’s given me back so much more than I could’ve hoped for.
“I’m walking away with a heart full of gratitude – for the game, for the people I shared the field with, and for every single person who made me feel seen along the way. I’ll always look back at my Test career with a smile.”
Kohli’s impact on Test cricket in India is perhaps second only to Sachin Tendulkar, even if their on-field personas were chalk and cheese. Both would draw a tide of supporters into Indian grounds when they walked out to the crease but Kohli was just as watchable in the field, be it an ever-expressive slip fielder or a prowling presence in the ring.
One example – the top line when he was profiled as one of Wisden’s five cricketers of the year in 2019 – came at a sold-out Edgbaston the previous summer, when Kohli ran out Root with a slingshot from midwicket. Then came the celebration, mimicking the mic-drop Root had cheekily pulled out during the preceding ODIs and adding some kisses.
Though India suffered a 4-1 loss that could have swung either way, it was the summer when Kohli rewrote his own story in England. He dominated a 4-0 win at home in 2016 with 655 runs but his first visit to the UK two years earlier ended with an average of 13 and Jimmy Anderson haunting his dreams. Second time around he said he “buried his ego” en route to 593 runs in five Tests, never once getting out to England’s master.
Outside India, where he averaged 55 from 55 Test matches, Kohli’s favourite playground was Australia. Relishing the bounce of its pitches, and meeting the hostility dished out to visitors with fire of his own, Kohli compiled seven Test centuries (and led India to their first series win there in 2018-19). Only Sir Jack Hobbs, with nine, has scored more Test centuries in Australia among touring batters.
After Kohli announced his retirement, Tendulkar posted on his social channels: “Your true legacy, Virat, lies in inspiring countless young cricketers to pick up the sport. What an incredible Test career you have had! You have given Indian cricket so much more than just runs – you have given it a new generation of passionate fans and players. Congratulations on a very special Test career.”
Shastri, who was head coach for part of Kohli’s tenure as captain, added: “Can’t believe you are done. You are a modern-day GIANT and were a fantastic ambassador for Test match cricket in every way you played and captained. Thank you for the lasting memories you’ve given to everyone, and to me in particular. It’s something I will cherish for life.”
Married to the Bollywood star Anushka Sharma and with two young children, Kohli has increasingly dedicated more time to family, away from his worshippers, and a good portion of this at their second home in the UK. Kohli has long since transcended cricket back home, both as a trend-setting public figure and a commercial behemoth.
With Kohli and Sharma now retired, and Ravichandran Ashwin having said his goodbyes in Australia last winter, it means England will face a more youthful India side across the five Test matches, starting at Headingley on 20 June. New stars will doubtless emerge, much like Kohli post-Tendulkar, but the landscape will feel very different.
