Thank you King! Virat Kohli announces retirement from Test Cricket

“If I see someone laughing, then see. For 60 overs they should feel hell out there”, this was Virat Kohli the test captain at its very best. The man who ruled test cricket with his aggressive captaincy, the man who took the struggling Indian test team to the top, Virat Kohli has announced his retirement from Test Cricket with immediate effect.

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An era ends in Test cricket but the legacy will continue FOREVER! ????????@imVkohli, the former Team India Captain retires from Test cricket.

His contributions to #TeamIndia will forever be cherished! ???? ???? pic.twitter.com/MSe5KUtjep — BCCI (@BCCI) May 12, 2025

The former India captain in his 14-year glorious test career played 123 tests scoring 9230 runs at an average of 46.85. Virat also scored 30 test hundreds, the fourth most for India. 

But, Virat's legacy in test Cricket is far greater than these numbers. When he took the captaincy from MS Dhoni mid-series during the Border Gavaskar trophy in 2014, India’s test team was struggling and was at its low phase. Kohli with his inspiring captaincy, took Indian cricket to a new heights. He along with Pujara, Rahane, Ashwin, Jadeja, Rohit, Umesh and Ishant transformed Indian test team. Especially at home, they became invincibles. 

He captained India in 68 matches winning a staggering 40 of them, while losing only 17. 40 wins made Kohli the most successful Indian captain of all time surpassing MS Dhoni and Sourav Ganguly. He also captained India to their first-ever Test series win in Australia in 2018-19. Even though his team was beaten by New Zealand in first-ever World Test Championship final, they were still the best test in the World. 

Virat Kohli, India's most successful Test captain ????

His Test career in numbers: https://t.co/ik2E2SgGMm pic.twitter.com/N2jevcFjJU — ESPNcricinfo (@ESPNcricinfo) May 12, 2025

Kohli’s last appearance came during the 2024-25 BGT in Australia, where he struggled to make runs on a consistent basis and was seen getting out to the outside off deliveries 8 times out of 10 innings. 

His overall test form too was on a lower trajectory since past 2-3 years. His career average, which was nearly 56 after his career best knock of 254* vs South Africa in 2019 had dropped to 46 in 2025. Despite this, the team management wanted him to be on the flight to England where team India is scheduled to play 5 match test series in June. 

Even though we might not see Virat Kohli in the whites playing for India again, his impact on Test Cricket will live on forever. He kept Test Cricket alive with his passion and commitment when it was struggling with the advent of T20 Cricket. ‘The Catalyst Zone’ wishes Virat Kohli happy retirement.