Gargi Raut
MSK Prasad was the chief selector when India won the historic 2018-19 Test series in Australia. Now that Virat Kohli, the former Indian Test captain, under whom Indian Test cricket reached its greatest heights, has retired, MSK looks back on the glory days. He touches on what made him different from everyone else, how pivotal his leadership was, how he advocated to protect the sanctity of Test cricket and the effort that went into winning the historic Australia series.
You were the Chief Selector during India’s historic Test Series win in Australia in 2018. How pivotal was Virat Kohli’s leadership and presence in shaping that achievement?
“It was a 71-year-old dream of Indian cricket to win a series in Australia. That happened in 2018-19 under the great leadership of Virat Kohli. He was the one who was instrumental in taking the Indian cricket Test team to the greatest heights. We might have not won in South Africa, we might have not won in England. But we came very, very close to winning those two series.
The experiences that we had in those two series helped a lot in winning this series in Australia. I think the entire credit should definitely go, maybe to an extent, to the selectors. But it’s all about the captain who took all the entire onus on himself to win the series there. And it was a dream come true for Indian cricket.
Very, very unfortunate that a man who has given so much to the Indian cricket Test team, who was given so much of happiness and joy, who made us sit and watch all five days of a Test match, has retired from Test cricket today. Very, very sad.”
Having watched Kohli closely during your tenure, what qualities made him a defining figure in Indian Test cricket? Tell me about that.
“See, T20 and ODI cricket is a different ball game compared to Test cricket. People are glued to their TVs to watch the glamour of white-ball cricket. But at a time when people were shifting from Test to T20 Cricket, it was Virat Kohli and his energy, from ball one to the last ball of the Test match, that kept people glued to Test cricket. Otherwise, there was a time where Test cricket would have been reduced from five days to four days.
He advocated so firmly that Test cricket should not be tampered with. Test cricket is actual, fundamental cricket and the flavour of Test Cricket should never be tampered with. He stood firm with that.
Test matches were getting over in two or three days, they wanted Test cricket to be a four-day affair, they wanted to change the rules. It was Virat who stood firm, made his point very clear to ICC and BCCI that Tests should not be tampered with and a lot of credit goes to him. A man who advocated for Test cricket, retires—it’s a sad day for me.”
Watch the full interview here
Exclusive:
MSK Prasad opens up on Virat Kohli’s retirement and what lies ahead of Indian Test Cricket.
“Kohli took Indian Test Cricket to the greatest heights”
“A person who gave his everything to Test Cricket has retired, it is a sad day for me”.@gargiraut15… pic.twitter.com/AFD0zlbVtL
— RevSportz Global (@RevSportzGlobal) May 13, 2025
Tell us about any anecdotes or behind-the-scenes moments when it comes to Kohli…
“At the end of 2016, we were in Chennai, planning for the upcoming Test series. It started with South Africa, then England and then Australia. I never saw Virat Kohli sitting in a meeting for so long. Ravi and Virat sat for hours in Chennai. They made it clear, they were desperate to win the three series. South Africa was in our hands, and we lost it by a whisker. England, we did extremely well. Unfortunately, we didn’t win that series. But Virat was desperate to win in Australia.
Virat said to his trainer, Shankar Basu, “I don’t want to waste my time”, he was so charged up that on the way to Australia he kept asking about how he would train there. ‘So where do I do my fitness, where do I do my weights?’ Virat would say, he was so pumped up to win that series.
Even during the selection meetings he put in a lot of effort, he rarely sits for that long. But he was very very clear, he said to me ‘Anna, whether we win or lose, I want five quality bowlers. Leave the batting to us. I want five quality bowlers to win the Test series.’ So it was he who advocated that theory of five-bowler theory in away series.
Under many captains, we only played four bowlers and an all-rounder who can chip in a few overs here and there. But it was he who got five bowlers. I still remember that Chennai Test match, where we sat for so many hours and prepared a plan for the next one-and-a-half year. That’s how we won the Australia series.”
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What have we become? Gossip peddlers? Fickle-minded fans? #AgnijitSen has more on how Social Media conjured up a parallel narrative in a parallel universe after Kohli quit Tests.#ViratKohli #ViratKohliretirement https://t.co/VICzR6yqqf
— RevSportz Global (@RevSportzGlobal) May 13, 2025
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