It was back in the month of January in the year 2022, where Virat Kohli stepped down from his role as the captain of the Indian Test side. This was following a sudden loss to South Africa with India as the visiting side. Remember he had taken over from the great and iconic MS Dhoni as the captain of the India side. The decision was seen as a shock move but that was it. The fearless and incredible batter that Virat Kohli was, would henceforth only continue to perform the role of a batter for the side and not as captain. But his record, much like that of a batter in Tests, was incredible as leader of the red ball format for India.
In the 68 Test matches wherein he led India in the red ball international duties, he won 40 tests and drew 11 games. What’s more? He would only come to lose 17 games and enjoyed a win percentage of 58 %.
The kind of record you’d consider envy inspiring and would certainly leave those that would follow in the leader’s footsteps - such as Shubman Gill right now- with plenty of motivation.
But the real sad part happened a few years later, 25 months to be precise when in mid-2025, Virat Kohli called time on his journey as a Test cricketer. Someone with more double centuries than all, including VVS Laxman, Sourav Ganguly, Gambhir even. A batter with 30 Test tons that were more than Sehwag, Dhawan, Dhoni, Ganguly and even Laxman’s career tally.
Could he have played more Test cricket? Would he have certainly breached past the 10,000 run mark having amassed over 9,200 runs by the end of his time wearing the India test whites? Would he have struck, at least, if not more than 3-5 other hundreds thus adding to his 30 ton tally?
Perhaps there are few other challenging queries out there. The answer is known to most Indian cricket loyalists. In fact, the former great of Indian Cricket, someone who emerged a World Cup hero back in the sensational 1983 World Cup triumph for India besides others like Mr Gavaskar, Kapil Dev, Dilip Vengsarkar, Jimmy Amarnath, Ravi Shastri among many others - Mr Madan also feels that there was more test cricket left in Kohli.
In fact, if you’re wondering what did the accomplished fast bowler and useful batter for the Indian side from back that era had to say about Virat Kohli, then don’t look elsewhere for we’ve got it covered for you:
"Virat Kohli should have have been continued as Captain for another 2 or 3 years in Test Cricket. There was still a lot of Test cricket left in him."
What do you think about that statement? Don’t you agree with Mr Madan Lal’s views?
