Virat Kohli announced his retirement from Test cricket on May 12, bringing the Indian cricket fraternity to a standstill. His decision to retire came as a bolt from the blue, especially with India playing a Test series against England next month.
Previous reports said that Kohli was deciding on his Test future since India's Test series loss to Australia Down Under. Kohli was expected to play a key role for India in the series. However, he scored only 190 runs in the series, which was way below his standards.
Just five days after Rohit Sharma announced his Test retirement (June 7), Kohli also followed suit, bringing an end to his Test career as well. The BCCI tried their best to convince Kohli to rethink his decision however, the Indian batter was adamant this time.
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Virat Kohli's Overall Test Career
Matches | Innings | Runs | Highest | Average | Strike-rate | 100s | 50s |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
123 | 210 | 9230 | 254 | 46.85 | 55.57 | 30 | 31 |
Kohli's decision to retire now leaves a gaping hole in the Indian playing XI in the format, with big shoes to fill. With Rohit and Kohli now retired from Test cricket and Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane not in the fray for selection, the younger lot will need to step up in the series against England. Meanwhile, India's Test leadership is also under the radar, with Shubman Gill and Rishabh Pant as the two names that have emerged after Rohit's Test retirement.
Meanwhile, Virat Kohli ended his Test career with 9230 runs in Test cricket from 123 matches at an average of 46.85 and a strike rate of 55.58. He ended his Test career with seven double tons, the most by an Indian batter, besides scoring 30 hundreds and 31 fifties.
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Here are some of the key stats from Virat Kohli's Test career.
4- Virat Kohli retired from Test cricket with 9230 runs, which makes him the fourth-highest run-getter for India in the format. Only Sachin Tendulkar (15921), Rahul Dravid (13265) and Sunil Gavaskar (10122) are ahead of him.
1- With 40 wins from 68 Test matches, Kohli remains the most successful Test skipper for India. He maintained a win record of 58.82 percent.
4- Kohli ended his Test career as the fourth-most successful Test skipper in international cricket. He won 40 out of the 68 matches as captain.
4- Virat Kohli is fourth on the list of most runs as Test captain. Â (5864). Graeme Smith (8659), Allan Border (6623) and Ricky Ponting (6542) are ahead of him.
30 - Kohli is fourth on the list of most Test hundreds by Indians. Only Sachin Tendulkar (51), Rahul Dravid (36) and Sunil Gavaskar (34) are ahead of him.
4 - Kohli has scored seven double tons, which leaves him fourth in the list of batters with most double hundreds in Test cricket. Only Don Bradman (12), Kumar Sangakkara (11) and Brian Lara (9) are ahead of him. He has scored the most double tons among Indian batters (7).
5 - Kohli is the fifth Indian batter with a best score in Test cricket of 250 (254 vs SA) of more. Virender Sehwag (319, 309, 293 and 254), Karun Nair (303*), VVS Laxman (281) and Rahul Dravid (270) are ahead of him.
5 - Kohli is fifth in the list of most runs at number four in Test cricket (7564). Sachin Tendulkar (13492), Mahela Jayawardene (9509), Jacques Kallis (9033) and Joe Root (7745) are over him.
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