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Team India player Virat Kohli announced his retirement from international Test cricket and stunned the sporting world. On May 12, he announced the heartbreaking news of his retirement from red-ball cricket and dazed his fans. In his remarkable Test career, he amassed 9230 runs in 210 innings of 123 matches and ended up as his national team’s fourth-highest run-getter, following Sunil Gavaskar, Rahul Dravid and Master Blaster Sachin Tendulkar. During his career, he gave a stiff competition to England. Back in 2021, India levelled the Test series on English soil under Virat Kohli’s captaincy. It was the first instance after 2007 when India didn’t lose a test series in England.
Impressed with Kohli’s rich Test legacy, former England captain Hussain praised him while speaking on SkySports. He remarked, "I have been a massive Virat Kohli fan over the last 14 years—his stats speak for themselves—but he was so much more than that. It was his aura, swagger, and passion." He also added, "We know Indian cricket fans, and the game means so much to them. They want their captain to show them what it means to the team, and no one embodied that passion for cricket in India more than Kohli.”
Nasser Hussain reveals why Virat Kohli retired from Test cricket
As per Nasser, the India veteran, who racked up 30 Test tons during his 14-year career for India, played like a champion and competed with the likes of England's Joe Root, Australia's Steve Smith, and New Zealand's Kane Williamson. Hussain feels Kohli didn’t want to stay in the game as an ordinary cricketer and that may have been the reason for the batting maestro’s exit from the format.
"He is the ultimate winner, he sees the end goal as a win, and he is desperate for that. Everything for Kohli is about winning. Why do you think he's so good in run chases? He can't go on the field and not be a hundred per cent, he can't ever go: 'I'll just do my best today. That may have formed part of his retirement decision, he doesn't want to be a normal cricketer, just doing a little bit here and there,” said Hussain.
