Shastri: Kohli retired from Tests without regret

Ravi Shastri has revealed that he had a personal conversation with Virat Kohli prior to his Test retirement, which convinced Shastri that the time was right for the decision. Shastri was India's coach for the majority of Kohli's tenure as captain and said that Kohli has no regrets. Shastri believes Kohli can still make big contributions in ODI's and in franchise cricket.

"I did speak to him about it [his announcement], I think a week before that and his mind was very clear that he'd given us everything," Shastri said on The ICC Review. "There were no regrets. There were one or two questions I asked, and that's a personal conversation which, you know, he mentioned very clearly, there were no doubts in his mind, which made me think, 'Yes, the time is right'. The mind has told his body that it's time to go.

"He doesn't have regrets. Ideally, everyone might want [him] to carry on. But then, he looks at the bigger picture. He feels he can contribute massive in the one-day game. There's a lot of franchise cricket left for him in his life. The reason I think he will not have regrets is because he gave his everything."

Kohli finished with 30 hundreds in 123 Tests across a 14-year career and was also India's most successful captain in the format. Shastri said that juggling it all at a high intensity was a tough task across formats and Test cricket had to make way.

"Individually, as a bowler, as a batsman, a player does his job, [and] then you sit back, " Shastri said. "But [with Kohli] when the team goes out, it's as if he has to take all the wickets, he has to take all the catches, he has to make all the decisions on the field.

"That much involvement, I would think there's going to be a burnout somewhere if he doesn't take a rest, if he doesn't compartmentalise how much he wants to play across formats, there is bound to be a burnout. Well, it's happened now and he's pulled out of Test cricket. Unfortunate, because I still think he could have played two [more] years, but he's the boss. If his mind tells him that is enough, it's enough."

Along with staggering peaks, Kohli has also left a cultural imprint on the format by being expressive on the field. It's a quality that, according to Shastri, had players and viewers invested in the game.

"He's got accolades around the globe. He has a bigger following than any other cricketer in the last decade," Shastri said. "Whether it's Australia, whether it's South Africa, he just got people to watch the game. There was a love-hate relationship.

"They would get angry because he had the ability to get under the skin of the viewer also. In the way he celebrated, his intensity was such that it was like a rash. It spread very quickly, not just within the dressing room, but within living rooms as well for people watching cricket. So he was an infectious personality. That's something I'll remember."