Team India supporters got shaken for a moment on May 12, when Virat Kohli took retirement from Test cricket after playing for India for 14 years in cricket's oldest format. Through an Instagram post, the veteran announced his decision to conclude his illustrious Test career.
Let’s have a look at the 36-year-old’s illustrious career in red-ball cricket.
Breakthrough and initial years in Tests (2011-2013)
Kohli broke into Test cricket against West Indies at Sabina Park on June 20. Playing his debut game, he produced innings of four and 15. Appearing in his maiden Test series, he could score only 76 runs in five innings of three Tests but after a few months, he grabbed the limelight for his decent performance against Australia in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2011-12.
With 300 runs in eight innings of four matches, he ended up as the third leading-run getter in the competition. India got whitewashed at the hands of Aussies in the four-match series but the positive thing happened to the visitors in the tour was that they got Kohli, who displayed his batting talent on swift pitches down under. During the tour, he also notched up his maiden Test ton at the Adelaide Oval on his team’s losing cause.
Struggle in England and comeback in Australia (2014-2015)
In 2014, when India travelled to England for four Tests, James Anderson posed a tough challenge for Virat Kohli. The pacer used outside off-stump deliveries to counter the right-handed batter and the English veteran succeeded in winning battles against the young Kohli. In the entire series, Kohli fell against the star English speedster four times in eight innings.
Following the disappointing debacle in England, Kohli was under immense pressure to prove himself with his bat in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2014-15 played in Australia. In MS Dhoni’s absence, he got the chance to lead India in the opening Test in Adelaide. As captain, he couldn’t win the Test but looked effective with his bat.
In both innings of the game, he scored centuries from his bat. The star player notched up 115 and 141. With this performance, he became the fourth India batter to rack up tons in both innings of a Test match, following Rahul Dravid, Sunil Gavaskar, and Vijay Hazare.
India couldn’t win the series against the Aussies but Kohli emerged as the leading run-getter in the series, scoring 692 runs in eight innings of four Tests. With these numbers, he ended up as the second-leading run-getter in the competition.
Achievements as India Test captain (2015-2022)
In 2015, he became India’s regular Test captain and under him the team won the Test series in Sri Lanka for the first time after 1993. After the defeat in the first game, India made a sensational comeback and hammered the hosts in the next two games to register a 2-1 win in the island nation. Kohli made a vital contribution to the victory not only with his leadership but also as a batter. With 233 runs in six innings of three games, he ended up as the highest run-scorer for India. After the triumph in Sri Lanka in 2015, India tasted success in Australia in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2018-19 held in Australia. India won the series by 2-1 and Kohli became the first India captain to win a Test series in Australia.
In his seven-year stint as Test captain, he also ensured no side could win a Test competition on Indian soil. His last series as India skipper was the tour of South Africa, which happened in 2021-22. India kicked off the series with a brilliant 113-run win but in the next two games, the 2021 World Test Champion (WTC) finalist couldn’t perform upto the expectations and lost the golden chance of winning their first Test series in South Africa.
Downfall as a batter (2020-2025)
After 2019, Kohli’s form slumped in Test cricket. The gap between his 27th and 28th Test centuries was of almost 40 months. During this phase, he constantly faced criticism for his inconsistent batting performance. In 2024, India supporters kept expectations high from the batting maestro for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25. He started the tournament with an excellent century in Perth. However, following that batting show, he struggled to be among the runs and could amass only 190 runs in nine innings of the series.
