Virat Kohli Announces Retirement From Test Cricket

In a Test career spanned across 14 years, Virat Kohli scored 9230 runs at an average of 46.85.

Virat Kohli has announced his retirement from Test cricket.

(Photo: BCCI)

Virat Kohli — among India’s modern-day greats — has officially announced his retirement from Test cricket on 12 May. The 36-year-old drew curtains on what has been a celebrated and decorated red-ball career spanning across 14 years, which featured 123 matches, and 9230 runs at an average of 46.85, including 30 centuries and 31 half-centuries.

His official statement, posted on Instagram, read:

It’s been 14 years since I first wore the baggy blue in Test cricket. Honestly, I never imagined the journey this format would take me on. It’s tested me, shaped me, and taught me lessons I’ll carry for life. There’s something deeply personal about playing in whites. The quiet grind, the long days, the small moments that no one sees but that stay with you forever. As I step away from this format, it’s not easy — but it feels right. I’ve given it everything I had, and it’s given me back so much more than I could’ve hoped for. I’m walking away with a heart full of gratitude — for the game, for the people I shared the field with, and for every single person who made me feel seen along the way. I’ll always look back at my Test career with a smile. #269, signing off.

Virat Kohli

Kohli made his Test debut against the West Indies in Kingston, Jamaica, as a 22-year-old, having already featured for the nation in ODI and T20I cricket, and won the 2011 ODI World Cup.

He assumed Test captaincy in 2014 — initially on a stand-in basis — and became only the fourth Indian to score a century on his Test captaincy debut. Following MS Dhoni’s retirement from Test cricket, on that same series against Australia, Kohli became the full-time Test captain of the Indian team.

Kohli led India 68 times in the longest format of the game, winning 40 of those matches. This made Kohli the most successful Indian Test captain of all time — both in terms of number of wins, with the second being MS Dhoni with 27 victories, and in terms of winning percentage (58.82%) among those who played at least ten matches as a captain.

Furthermore, it was under Kohli’s leadership that India won their first-ever away Test series against Australia, back in 2019. Whilst he also guided India to the final of the inaugural World Test Championship, India would eventually emerge second-best as the trophy was clinched by New Zealand.

Kohli scored 30 Test centuries — fourth-most by an Indian — with a career-best 254* against South Africa in Pune.

Interestingly, his retirement comes shortly after Rohit Sharma — his successor in terms of the Indian Test captaincy — called curtains on his Test career. With this development, India are expected to field a new look side when they will travel to England next month.