Former Australia player Greg Chappell said that Virat Kohli has taken the decision to retire from Tests was not because he was out of form but due to the toll the game has taken on him mentally. Chappell added that Kohli hung up his boots due to the loss of mental clarity required to perform at the highest level.
“His decision was not born of diminished skill, but from the growing realisation that he could no longer summon the mental clarity that had once made him so formidable. He accepted that, at the highest level, unless the mind is sharp and decisive, the body falters,” Chappell wrote in his column for ESPNCricinfo.
“When doubt begins to settle in the bones, it disrupts decision-making, impairs footwork, and erodes the spontaneity essential to elite performance. Kohli’s retirement is a reminder that form is more a function of the mind than it is of mechanics,” Chapell added further.
Last month, Kohli announced his Test retirement ahead of the national side’s scheduled five-match tour to England in June.
“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,” Kohli wrote on his Instagram handle. Kohli ended the posted with “#269, signing off”.
The 36-year-old Kohli brought down the curtains on a prolific red-ball career, spanning 14 years and 123 Tests. The Delhi batter made his Test debut against the West Indies on June 20, 2011, in Kingston.
Kohli had since gone on to become India’s most successful batter in the previous decade between 2010 and 2019. Kohli was the third-highest Test run-getter in the period, piling on 7202 runs at 54.97 average and 27 centuries, the most by any batter in the time.
Story continues below this ad
With 9230 runs in 210 innings, Kohli stands fourth on the all-time charts among Indian batters, only behind the legendary trio of Sachin Tendulkar (15,921), Rahul Dravid (13,265), and Sunil Gavaskar (10,122) with 9230 runs at a 46.85 average.