Virat Kohli sent shockwaves with his retirement announcement through the cricketing fraternity. While we celebrate Kohli’s contribution to India Test cricket and look back on his 14 year long career in whites, former India captain and former chief selector Kris Srikkanth opened up in an exclusive interview with RevSportz on Kohli’s shock retirement and what he would have communicated to Virat if he was the chief selector. For the record, Srikkanth was Chairman of selectors when Kohli scored his first hundred in Australia in 2012.
When asked about what made the selection committee bank on Kohli for the 2011-12 Australia Test series, Srikkanth replied
“He was a special talent. I think Virat was outstanding because all of us liked his sincerity, integrity, and everything. Also he was a very hard-working boy at that time. And we all realized he has terrific potential and that’s why we picked him ahead of everybody else for the Australian series.”
In Srikkanth’s words the former skipper always stood out from the rest, “Obviously, when you pick a youngster as a selector, you always pick a youngster thinking that he will be a great success in the future. But nobody thought this far. And the rest is history.” Srikkanth looked back on what made young Virat Kohli ‘the next-big superstar’.
“If I was the chairman now, I would say, ‘Boss, you captain the team, bring back glory to Indian Test cricket, and then leave Test cricket’.” said Srikkanth as he echoed the thoughts of a billion in the country.
As we were about to close the interview, the 1983 world cup winner said it again, “The selectors should have convinced him. Had I been there I would have spoken to him and asked him to captain India in England. Bring back the glory days to India’s Test cricket and retire. That would have made it the perfect end”, he concluded.
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