Virat Kohli retired from Test cricket Monday after playing 123 matches in his glorious 14-year red-ball career. Kohli made his Test debut in 2011 against West Indies and has been India's standout batter since Sachin Tendulkar’s retirement in 2013.
The 36-year-old Kohli’s retirement comes only days after Rohit Sharma stepped down from test cricket, taking two senior batters out of selection contention for India's tour to England. India will need to select a new skipper and reshape its batting order for the five-Test series starting June 20. Kohli scored 9,230 runs including 30 centuries and 31 half-centuries at a test batting average of 46.85. He also led India in 68 test matches and was India’s most successful captain with 40 Test wins.
AB de Villiers and Virat Kohli have played together for the IPL franchise Royal Challengers Bengaluru. They have shared appreciation and love for each other on many occasions. The South African legend posted a picture with Kohli and congratulated him on his retirement from the Tests.
Former India cricketer Harbhajan Singh hailed Virat Kohli for his performance in Tests, his intent, intensity and inspiration.
It will be a very difficult task to replace Virat Kohli at number 4 in the Indian test squad. However, the five options who can fill in his shoes are as follows:
Shubman Gill, KL Rahul, Sai Sudharsan, Karun Nair, and Sarfaraz Khan.
Virat Kohli's brother posted on an Instagram story, “What an incredible journey champ. What you have done for the game cannot be replaced.”
“Always proud of you bhai,” he added.