Did Kohli Lack Support from BCCI as He Retired?

New Delhi, May 14 (NationPress) Former Indian cricket team captain Mohammad Kaif suggested that Virat Kohli may not have received the support he was hoping for from the BCCI and the selectors, which ultimately led to his sudden decision to retire from Test cricket.

Kohli, who accumulated 9,230 runs in 123 matches with an impressive average of 46.85, announced his retirement from Test cricket on Instagram this past Monday. This announcement came just five days after Rohit Sharma, India’s captain, also retired from the longer format of the game.

“I believe he wanted to persist with this format. There must have been some internal discussions involving the BCCI, where selectors might have pointed to his performance over the past 5-6 years and indicated that his place on the team could be at risk. The reality of what transpired behind closed doors will remain unknown,” Kaif shared in an exclusive interview with IANS.

Recently, Kohli has faced challenges in consistently scoring runs in Test matches. During the 2024/25 Border-Gavaskar Trophy series, which India lost 3-1, he managed only 190 runs across nine innings, with 100 of those runs coming from an unbeaten second-innings effort in Perth. Kaif noted that Kohli's urgency to score runs in Australia might indicate that his Test career was nearing its end.

“In the 2024-25 Border-Gavaskar Trophy, he seemed rushed to accumulate runs. Test cricket requires prolonged concentration and endurance, which he has demonstrated in the past. However, the way he was edging the ball while trying to drive made me feel his patience was waning,” he observed.

“Perhaps he thought, ‘I’m in the twilight of my career, so what’s the point of grinding out a gritty century?’ In the past, his approach showed remarkable patience; he would leave deliveries, take his time, and tire bowlers before going on the attack. That wasn’t evident in Australia,” he added.

Kaif elaborated, “The manner in which he got out at the slips suggested he wasn’t prepared to spend significant time at the crease. The communication from the BCCI and his own realizations about red-ball cricket may have influenced his decision.”

While Kaif anticipated Rohit’s retirement after he made himself unavailable for the Sydney Test, he expressed surprise at Kohli stepping away from Test cricket. “Virat’s decision baffled me. Although his Test statistics have declined in recent years, a fit 36-year-old could have made a comeback, as he has shown before,” he stated.

“I thought he would play for a few more years, mentoring younger players. This is a deeply personal choice; he has consistently claimed that Test cricket is his favorite format. In every interview, he praised the Test format,” Kaif concluded.