There were reports of a highly influential figure trying to persuade Virat Kohli to prolong his Test career.
Veteran India batter Virat Kohli retired from Tests on Monday, sending shockwaves across the global cricketing fraternity. The Delhi batter ended his remarkable Test career with 9230 runs from 123 Tests, including 31 fifties and 30 centuries.
After Rohit Sharma’s retirement from Test cricket last week, Virat Kohli’s future in the longest format had been highly speculated about. There were also reports of a highly influential figure trying to persuade Virat Kohli to prolong his Test career, more so with a five-match Test series against England in England coming up.
According to a report in Cricbuzz, the “highly influential figure” who tried to convince Virat Kohli to continue playing Tests seem to be Rajeev Shukla, who is the vice-president of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). The report adds that the meeting between Kohli and Rajeev could not take place due to the ongoing political tensions between India and Pakistan. For the unversed, Rajeev Shukla is a Congress Member of Parliament (MP).
Another possibility of the highly influential figure is that of former India coach Ravi Shastri. Cricbuzz reported that Virat Kohli had spoken to Ravi Shastri prior to announcing his retirement. However, the fact is that Virat Kohli had decided to call it quits from Tests a long time back.
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The 36-year-old was also supposed to talk to Jay Shah, the former BCCI secretary and the current chairman of the International Cricket Council (ICC). However, it is still not revealed if the former India captain spoke to Jay Shah. Virat Kohli also reportedly spoke with chief selector Ajit Agarkar via phone twice recently.
Virat Kohli was not just a batter who could score runs at will but also a captain who led his team from the front. He led India to Test wins in England and South Africa, and famously helped his team clinch the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in Australia in 2018-19. India also reached the final of the 2021 World Test Championship (WTC). India, however, lost the final to New Zealand by eight wickets.
Virat Kohli, along with Rohit Sharma and Ravindra Jadeja, had retired from T20Is following India’s title triumph in the 2024 T20 World Cup. Both Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma will continue playing for India in ODIs.
