Prominent Indian cricket figure to persuade Virat Kohli to do U-Turn on Test retirement talks – Report

The BCCI has picked a prominent cricketing figure in an attempt to persuade star batter Virat Kohli to reconsider his Test retirement talks. On Saturday, reports of Kohli considering stepping aside from Tests broke the internet, with sources close to the information revealing the veteran batter has expressed his desire to do away with this format to the Indian Cricket Board.

A Cricbuzz report suggests that the meeting between Kohli and the unnamed highly influential personality will take place before the BCCI selectors sit to pick the squad for the away England tour. While it remains undisclosed where the squad announcement meeting takes place, the report adds that BCCI will plan a media conference to reveal the new Test captain. Such reports have come after the Indian captain Rohit Sharma announced his shock Test retirement early this week.

Meanwhile, the BCCI selectors will announce the India A squad for the England tour sooner. 

The report also read that there may have been some meetings between Rohit and that prominent personality before the veteran opener decided to call it quits in Test cricket.

Although there remains no certainty whether Kohli will reconsider his Test retirement call after meeting the highly influential figure, the BCCI is optimistic that the person chosen to speak with Kohli could have some influence. The board, however, remains keen to understand the reason behind Kohli’s call to step aside from this format. 

Ace batter Kohli hasn’t been in the best form in Test cricket in the past five years. Averaging well above 50 at one time, his runs and average dipped, yet he continued to dominate bowlers in his favourite format. 

As things stand, Kohli averages close to 46, shy of around 770 runs from the 10,000-mark in Test cricket. He has played 123 Tests, leading the Indian Team in 68 games. Under his leadership, India scaled unbelievable heights, winning the Test series Down Under for the first time in 2018/19, besides claiming the top spot in the ICC Test rankings.

Meanwhile, Kohli plies his trade for Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) in IPL 2025, the tournament the BCCI suspended for a week amid escalating tensions between India and Pakistan. 

Now that both countries have agreed to a ceasefire, as confirmed by the Ministry of External Affairs of India, it remains to be seen when the remainder of the season resumes.