Have we seen the last of Virat Kohli the Test bat? The answer is yes. In an emotional message, he has called it a day from Test match cricket. While there was news that the BCCI was trying to get him to change his mind, especially with Rohit Sharma also having just retired, the truth is that Kohli had decided and there was no turning back.
Now we know that it was the Sydney Test last January that was our final sighting of Kohli the Test batter. Did he still have the game to score runs in difficult conditions in England? And how tough will it be for India to deal with this void?
The truth is that Kohli hadn’t been the same Test player he once was over the three or four years. In Australia, the bowlers had his number, with Kohli time and again making the same mistake outside the off stump. Except the Perth hundred, it was a painful series for him, and it is essential that we recognise that he hasn’t played any red-ball cricket since.
Having said that, he is Virat Kohli, probably the second-best Test batter behind Sachin Tendulkar in India’s cricket history. He has defied the odds in the past and rediscovered himself time and again. Think England 2014 and 2018. He failed in 2014, making just 134 runs in 10 innings. In 2018, he batted like a man possessed. Perhaps the best he ever has. Behind this was his hard work meshed with enormous talent. He is still the most hard-working and if he had decided to go to England, it was expected that he’d strive the hardest to make it count. His work ethic and his discipline are such that they gave us hope that he could overcome his red-ball slump one final time.
But that isn’t to be. Every good thing has to come to an end,and this is one such. The Pied Piper won’t be seen in whites anymore and it is indeed the end of an era. For a young captain, Virat could have been the sounding board in England. Having been to England multiple times and experienced all kinds of emotions, Kohli could have been Shubman Gill’s go-to man. That’s what India would miss in the dressing room, making it a very inexperienced one.
For the greatest Test batter that India has seen in the last decade, we didn’t want the end to be like this. But then, that’s sport. Very cruel at times even if you are the greatest.
For me, I will remember Kohli the test batter with one anecdote. He did not have a cheat meal in four years and once said as much to me. When I refused to believe him, he laughed and asked me to cross-check with Patrick Farhart. Patrick confirmed that it was indeed the case, and the cheat meal came after a magnificent double-hundred against England in Mumbai.
Kohli felt he could indulge. “He ordered a burger, but then did not eat the bread,” said Patrick. “That was his cheat meal.”
That’s Virat Kohli. The greatest disciplinarian Indian test cricket has seen. India’s red-ball cricket is poorer without him. Thank you, Virat, for all the memories.