Virat Kohli retires from Test cricket

Virat Kohli has announced his retirement from Test cricket, bringing the curtain down on a career that spanned 14 years and included 123 Tests - 68 of them as captain - in which he scored 9230 runs at an average of 46.85.

"It's been 14 years since I first wore the baggy blue in Test cricket. 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," Kohli said in a social media statement on Monday morning. "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."

As reported on ESPNcricinfo on Saturday, Kohli had communicated his desire to retire from Test cricket to the BCCI ahead of the big five-match series in England starting June 20, for which he was expected to be part of the squad. It was learnt at the time that Kohli had been having conversations on the matter with officials of the BCCI for the past month or so.

For Kohli, it hadn't been a particularly fruitful time in the format of late. When he scored 100 not out in the Perth Test in November 2024, it was his first century in Tests since July 2023 (against West Indies in Port of Spain), and his average, 55.10 at its peak after he scored his career best of 254 not out vs South Africa in Pune in 2019, had been 32.56 over the last 24 months.

Despite that, it's understood that the team management and selectors wanted his experience on the England tour, where India will be playing under a new captain - Shubman Gill is the frontrunner to take over from Rohit Sharma following his retirement from Test cricket earlier this week.

Apart from Rohit, R Ashwin had also retired from international cricket late last year. With Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane, Ishant Sharma and Umesh Yadav not in the mix at the moment, and Mohammed Shami's form under scrutiny after his return from a long injury layoff, KL Rahul, Ravindra Jadeja and Jasprit Bumrah remain the only links to that phase of Indian Test cricket, where they reached two successive World Test Championship (WTC) finals, the first under Kohli's leadership.

Kohli, as well as Rohit, were included in the highest category (A+) in the latest BCCI contracts, which is usually meant for players who play all three international formats. Both Kohli and Rohit had retired from T20Is after India won the World Cup last year, and they will only be available for ODI cricket going forward.

BCCI president Roger Binny hailed Kohli for his qualities as a cricketer and leader.

"Virat Kohli's name will be remembered alongside the finest ever to have graced Test cricket," Binny said in a statement. "What set him apart was not just his hunger for runs, but his commitment to excellence in the toughest format of the game. His leadership marked a shift in how India competed overseas -- with aggression, belief, and a refusal to settle for second best. He inspired a generation to take pride in the whites, and his impact on Indian cricket will be felt for decades to come."

Kohli made his Test debut on India's tour of the West Indies in mid-2011, and after a quiet start in Kingston where he scored 4 and 15 - he totaled 76 runs in five innings on that tour - Kohli first showed glimpses of his ability against West Indies at Mumbai's Wankhede Stadium later that year, scoring 52 and 63. It was a struggle initially on the subsequent, ill-fated tour of Australia, where India lost 4-0, but Kohli finished the series on a high, scoring his first Test century in the Adelaide Test.

Kohli's first really big Test series was also in Australia, in 2014-15, when he scored twin centuries in Adelaide, and followed it up with centuries in Melbourne and Sydney to aggregate 692 runs for the series at an average of 86.50. By then, he was also India's Test captain. MS Dhoni was the designated captain, but missed the first Test because of a thumb injury, leading to Kohli's elevation. Dhoni returned for, and captained in, the second Test in Brisbane and continued in the position for the third Test in Melbourne, but retired from the format altogether after that game. Kohli took over the reins after that.

A glorious period ensued, where India won 40 of the 68 games Kohli led in, losing just 17. The 40 wins made Kohli India's most successful Test captain of all time - Dhoni with 27 from 60 and Sourav Ganguly with 21 from 49 rank below him - and, at the time of his retirement, places him at No. 4 on the overall list of captains with the most Test wins, behind Graeme Smith (53 from 109), Ricky Ponting (48 from 77) and Steve Waugh (41 from 57).

The tour of England in 2018 was another high point. He was the top run-getter across the two sides in the five Tests, aggregating 583 at an average of 59.30 with two centuries. That it came after he had scored just 134 runs in ten innings on the previous tour, in 2014, made the performance that much more special. That year, 2018, was also his best in terms of aggregate for a year, when he scored 1322 runs.

During his golden run, he averaged 75.93 in 2016, 75.64 in 2017, 55.08 in 2018, and 68.00 in 2019. During that period between 2016 and 2018, Kohli scored 3596 runs in 35 Tests at an average of 66.59, with 14 hundreds and eight fifties in 58 innings.