Picture Credit: X
Virat Kohli’s Test retirement has delivered sorrow to his supporters. On May 12, the star player shocked the cricketing world after announcing retirement from red-ball cricket. Bollywood is also unable to process this new development as Kohli’s exit will not only impact Team India but also the longest form of the sport. Bollywood stars have shown their love and support for Kohli several times. Back in 2015, when Kohli was getting targeted by trolls on social media after failing to be effective with his bat against Australia in the World Cup 2015 semi-final, Salman Khan called the India legend and reinstated faith in the Indian veteran.
On Kohli’s Test retirement, several members of the film industry reacted, including the likes of Vicky Kaushal, Sunil Shetty, Neha Dhupia, Ranveer Singh, Rajkumar Rao, Shahid Kapoor, Katrina Kaif, Ananya Pandey, among others. However, it was lyricist and screenwriter Javed Akhtar’s post that attracted a lot of attention. Taking to X, the veteran called himself an admirer of Kohli and wrote, “Obviously Virat knows better but as an admirer of this great player. I am disappointed by his rather premature retirement from Test cricket. I think there is still a lot of cricket in him. I sincerely request him to reconsider his decision.”
Virat Kohli will be seen in action against Kolkata Knight Riders on May 17
With the resumption of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025, Virat Kohli will be seen donning Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) jersey again. On May 17, Bengaluru will host defending Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium. Earlier, both teams kicked off the competition on March 22 at Eden Gardens, where RCB bagged a seven-wicket win.
Kohli is currently the most-successful batter for Challengers in the season, scoring 505 runs in 11 matches at a strike rate of 143.46. RCB are chasing their first title in the tournament and they will expect their star batter to continue his form in the remainder of the competition to lift the coveted trophy.
