Recently, two of India’s modern-day batting stalwarts – Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli announced their retirements from the longest format. While India boasts a solid talent pool to replace the duo, it would still not be the same and the void in some way will always be there.
Notably, Rohit’s retirement was still on expected lines but Virat’s decision came as a shock. The latter has been an incredible force in Test cricket – both as a skipper and a player and former India coach Ravi Shastri too resonated the same.
In his column for Sportstar, Shastri wrote, “To me, he [Virat Kohli] is also the greatest red-ball captain ever. Forty wins in 68 Tests as captain places him in a rare category.
He was a man who loved to be in the thick of action. The camera would pick him in different acts — as a fielder, batsman, taking fantastic catches, inflicting incredible run-outs. You couldn’t take him out of the game — he wouldn’t let you.”
Kohli and Shastri emerged as one of the most formidable captain-coach duos in Indian Test cricket history. Under their leadership, India dominated the red-ball format, securing the apex spot in Test rankings and reigning it for an impressive 42 months, a sheer testament to their strategic brilliance.
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Kohli bid farewell to his remarkable 14-year Test career which includes 30 centuries, cementing his place among India’s all-time batting greats. Beyond his batting prowess, he also etched his name in as India’s most successful Test captain, leading the team to 40 wins in 68 matches, 13 more than his predecessor MS Dhoni.
His sudden retirement announcement thus stunned the cricket fraternity, particularly because he was just 770 runs short of joining the elite 10,000-run club in Test cricket.
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