- Virat Kohli has told the BCCI he plans to retire from Test cricket before summer
- The 36-year-old won 40 of his 68 matches and hit 9230 runs at a 46.85 average
- Kohli would be the third Test retirement of one of India’s superstars in six months
India are facing the third Test retirement of one of their generational superstars within six months following news that Virat Kohli does not want to tour England this summer.
Kohli, 36, is understood to have told the Indian hierarchy that the time is right for him to step away given that the five-match series against Ben Stokes’ team signals the start of a new World Test Championship cycle.
Although the development has only just come to light, he has been in discussions with Indian board officials for weeks and is due to discuss the issue further with chief selector Ajit Agarkar in the next few days.
It follows the Test goodbyes of two 38-year-olds since December: captain Rohit Sharma calling it quits this week after Ravichandran Ashwin’s 106-cap career ended with a haul of 537 wickets.
If Kohli cannot be persuaded to continue, he will retire as India’s most successful captain – with 40 wins in 68 matches – in addition to 9230 runs at an average of 46.85.
His personal statistics have plunged over the past six years, however. At its peak in 2019, his average stood at 55.1 but his long-format performances have not maintained the level of his limited-overs ones since.
Virat Kohli is understood to have told the Indian hierarchy he wants to retire from Test cricket
The 36-year-old does not want to tour England this summer to start the new World Test Championship cycle
Kohli won 40 of his 68 matches with India and hit an impressive 9230 runs at a 46.85 average
Last year, Kohli retired from Twenty20 internationals last July after India won the World Cup and it was expected that he would concentrate on Tests given that bilateral one-day series are on the wane.
However, his absence from India’s top six would leave the tourists with a lack of experience and the absence of a wise head to whoever is the new captain.
Shubman Gill and Jasprit Bumrah are the favourites to succeed Rohit ahead of a tour that has not been kind to India in terms of recent results: they have won just four and lost 13 in the past four visits.
