Virat Kohli has reportedly made up his mind to retire from Test cricket, ahead of India's tour of England next month.
Reports: Kohli has 'made up his mind' to retire from Tests
On Saturday morning (May 10), the Indian Express reported that Kohli is set on retiring from the longest format, but that the BCCI "has urged him to rethink as the crucial England tour is coming up."
The same was reported on ESPNcricinfo too.
Kohli has been in excellent form in white-ball cricket of late. Until the IPL 2025 was suspended yesterday, he was one of just five players to have crossed the 500-run mark in the tournament, helping RCB to a spot in the top two in their quest for the playoffs.
Prior to that, he was one of two Indian batters, along with Shreyas Iyer, to score more than 200 runs in their victorious Champions Trophy campaign. That included an unbeaten, match-winning century against Pakistan.
However, his form in red-ball cricket has not been at the same level. In India's last Test series, the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, Kohli scored a century in the first Test in Perth but did not score more than 36 in any of his next eight innings. He even returned to Ranji Trophy action for Delhi this January, but managed just six in his only innings against Railways.
His numbers have largely been on the decline for a while now. After averaging over 50 with the bat in each calendar year from 2016 to 2019, he has averaged under 30 in every year from 2020 to 2025, bar one.
India could be without Kohli and Rohit for England tour
The news of Kohli's decision comes less than a week after Indian skipper Rohit Sharma announced his retirement from Test cricket. There had been rumours prior to Rohit's retirement, that he was to be stripped of the captaincy for India's upcoming tour of England. As Rohit's predecessor in that role, Kohli was understandably in the mix to take over, potentially as a short-term option.
Read more: Gill, Bumrah... Kohli? Five potential successors to Rohit Sharma as India Test captain
Beyond the captaincy though, if Kohli is to retire, it leaves India without two batters who have been fixtures in their top four for the best part of six years. A debut could be in the offing for someone like B Sai Sudharsan, who has been in superb touch during the IPL.
Either way, it appears likely that a lack of experience is something the Indian team will need to overcome next month.
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