Did Virat Kohli hint at Test retirement during Australian tour Down Under? Here’s what we know

Virat Kohli has shocked the cricket world after expressing his desire to retire from Test cricket ahead of India’s first international assignment – the away England Tests, since IPL 2025. The Indian batting great is said to have informed BCCI officials about his decision to step aside from red-ball cricket, with the latest reports suggesting that he even dropped hints about this to his teammates during the away Australian tour Down Under, which India lost 1-3, conceding the BGT for the first time in a decade.

A Times of India (TOI) report claims that on several occasions during India’s horrendous tour of Australia, Kohli hinted at doing away with Test cricket, but no one took it seriously. Kohli began the five-match series with a banger, smashing a second-inning hundred in the series opener in Perth and helping India strike the first blow. That, however, was Kohli’s and Team India’s last hurrah moment on the tour, as they lost three of the four remaining matches.

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Kohli also suffered the wrath of poor outings on what he called his last Australian Test tour. The right-handed batter remained unbeaten on 100 in the first Test but could manage 90 more across eight innings, amassing just 190 in nine outings.

Kohli to teammates – ‘I am done’

Even before the discussions around squad selection for the away five-match Test series against England, starting on June 20 in Leeds were underway, Kohli expressed his intentions of discontinuing playing Tests to BCCI officials, the discussions of which were going on for around a month.

While his decision surprised all stakeholders of Indian Cricket, including BCCI office bearers and those close to him, Kohli has made up his mind.
The report read that the BCCI is eager to have him on the flight to the UK for this crucial Test series, also considering Rohit Sharma’s shock Test retirement lately, but the ball seems to be in Kohli’s court now.

However, what’s surprising here is that Kohli expressed his desire to become the Indian Test captain once again, having previously led and scaled Indian Cricket to imperious heights, with the BCCI selectors putting this idea under the mat. Their reason for deciding against doing so is to pick a captain for the future, with ace batter Shubman Gill leading the race to replace Rohit as Team India’s new Test captain.

"A new WTC cycle is starting. Future and continuity has to be kept in mind as far as the team is concerned. Even coach Gautam Gambhir would want a set of players he is likely to work with for an extended period. There can't be any stop-gap solutions for such an important series. The last two Test series haven't been ideal for the team, and the England series is very crucial," a source close to the information revealed earlier, as also quoted by the TOI.