Credit: BCCI
More than 24 hours have passed since Virat Kohli announced his retirement from Test cricket, his favorite format. It must have been hard for him to call it a day, considering how hungry he has always been to don the baggy blue for India. But it was harder for his fans to fathom that one of the legends of the game would not even get a farewell game. Social media is abuzz with people paying tributes to one of the fiercest competitors in world cricket. Some are sad, some are angry, but what’s common is the grief everyone carries in their hearts.
Kohli first played for India in red-ball cricket in 2011. While there were no doubts about his white-ball prowess, the youngster was yet to prove his mettle in the purest form of cricket. He did fairly well in the first three years, scoring five centuries. Then came the 2014 England tour, the most dreaded overseas tour for India’s batting superstar. Things just did not go his way, and it seemed like Kohli was not made for Test cricket. But as has been the case throughout his career, he defied the skepticism. A new Virat Kohli emerged in Australia. With twin centuries in the Adelaide Test and a massive 169 in Melbourne, Kohli started his Test legacy.
It was the dawn of a new era- Virat Kohli, the Test captain. Every Kohli fan would agree that Kohli found his best when he was leading Indian in Tests, and the numbers don’t lie either. The 36-year-old amassed 5864 runs at an average of 54.80 in the 68 Tests he played as a captain. In the 55 matches, as a non-captain, Kohli scored only 3366 runs at 37.40. His hunger increased manifold when he donned the captain’s hat, and it not only showed in his batting but also in his on-field energy.
He yielded results for his team, winning 40 matches out of 68 he captained. Kohli ended his reign as the captain with the third-highest win percentage in Test cricket, only behind the great Steve Waugh and Ricky Ponting. He was India’s most successful Test captain too. He ended India’s trophy drought on Australian soil, winning the Border-Gavaskar Trophy after 71 years in 2019. At home, India under Kohli became invincible, winning every series. More than the wins, Indian Test team witnessed a cultural shift under Kohli. We became a team to fear with our lethal pace attack and aggressive batters.
India’s infamous victory against England at the Lord’s in 2021 was a testament to the cultural shift we had undergone. While many brushed aside the win at Lord’s, calling it a fluke victory, Kohli and Co. were right in their face with their win at The Oval. Indian cricket fans were on cloud nine as their one of the biggest dreams, a Test series win in England, was on the verge of coming true. But an unrest in the Indian camp meant that the final match of the series was called off and BCCI and ECB agreed upon rescheduling it for India’s next trip to England. We came back but a lot had changed.
Kohli was not the captain of this Indian side anymore. The fierceness was gone. We were dull and blunt and England took full advantage of it, winning the match with ease. The dream was shattered and buried deep. That abrupt end to the 2021 series caused more harm than ever and it went downhill from there. We lost another WTC Final, we were whitewashed at home by New Zealand, and failed to retain the Border Gavaskar Trophy. Virat Kohli’s Test team, which used to instill fear in the opposition was in tatters and so was the batter himself.
Nothing worked for Kohli in Test cricket. A century here and there was not enough. The mode of dismissal became a loop for Kohli and after the horrors of BGT, he admitted that he did not have one more Australia tour in him. But little did his fans know that he has no gas left for Test cricket in all. For a player who thumped his chest after every win and was in his opponent’s face every single time, a retirement post on social media felt like a betrayal. It felt as if he did not care for his fans.
The thought of not seeing Kohli in whites ever again was not something any one was ready for. Every one (at least the genuine cricket fans) waited for a rebound, an act of defiance, and a last thump on the chest from the most decorated cricketer of this generation. But he chose to go in silence, upsetting his admirers. While everyone is still soaking in the shocking announcement, I feel it was for the best (at least for the man himself). Afterall, Kohli often emphasised why he loved Test cricket. He felt that it resembled life. It tested him on every front but he found his ways. He made mistakes, as we do in life, but bounced back. And at last, it was not about a fairytale ending but making peace with the fact that life goes on and even the heroes have to rest.
