He announced his retirement on May 12.
Former India skipper Sourav Ganguly opined that if Virat Kohli were taking part in the ongoing Test series against England, he would have piled up lots of runs. The Delhi batter recently declared his retirement from the red ball format after playing a total of 123 Test matches. He smashed 9,230 runs at an average of 46.85 with the help of 30 hundreds and 31 fifties.
Under the leadership of young Shubman Gill, India lost the first Test match against England by five wickets. He is being highly criticised because of his defensive approach, as the English side managed to chase down a target of 371 runs in the fourth innings.
The former BCCI president was surprised when Virat Kohli retired, as he wanted him to play more, citing his tremendous fitness.
“As a player everyone understands where he stands at the moment. Just look at Virat. Everybody says why. I know he didn’t have the best five years in Test cricket but champions like him rediscover. And I guarantee that if he was on this tour of England, he would have scored runs. But he felt it was time to go,” Ganguly told PTI.
ALSO READ:
While playing against England, Kohli smashed 1,096 runs from 33 innings at an average of 33.21. He also amassed two centuries and five half-centuries against England. During the 2018 tour, Kohli was immaculate, scoring 593 runs across 10 innings at an average of 59.30 with the help of two hundreds and three fifties.
Though Kohli batted well, the Indian team lost the series 4-1. In the next series, Kohli failed to replicate his magic with the bat, making 249 runs from nine innings. But he helped India to a 2-1 series lead under his captaincy. However, the team lost the rescheduled fifth Test under the leadership of Jasprit Bumrah.
The Indian team will play against England in the second Test, starting from July 2 at Edgbaston. The visitors would look to win the game to level the series.
For more updates, follow CricXtasy on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Telegram, and YouTube.
