Former India batter Mohammad Kaif urged Virat Kohli to not retire from Tests and board the plane for the upcoming Test series against England.
Former India batter Mohammad Kaif urged Virat Kohli to not retire from Tests and board the plane for the upcoming Test series against England. The rumours mills are rife that Kohli has decided to bring the curtain down on his Test career as he no longer wants to play the longest format. However, as per reports, the BCCI top brass are constantly in touch with the maverick batter, asking him to reconsider his decision and make the trip to the UK for the five-match series, beginning June 20.
The 36-year-old has been having a torrid time in Tests. In the last five years, the right-hander has scored just four centuries. In the recent Border-Gavaskar Trophy against Australia, the former India captain managed 190 runs in nine innings.
His numbers would have looked all the more horrible had he not scored a century in the series opener in Perth. Kohli kept on chasing deliveries bowled well outside off and all of his eight dismissals happened in identical fashion.
“Virat Kohli, India’s Babbar Sher wants to relax. He is thinking about retirement. I think he should go to England, prove his point and end his career on a high note. Because of the work he did in the T20 World Cup, he should end his career on a good note. Is he thinking about retirement out of helplessness? Because there is one kind of delivery that has been troubling him for many years. The ball bowled outside the off stump,” Kaif said in a video shared on X (formerly Twitter).
“When the ball was bowled in the fourth-stump channel, he got out many times. It was such a trouble that he couldn’t get over it. In his career, he went to England and got out there. In Australia, he got out here. At home, against New Zealand, he got out to spin. He tried a lot,” he added.
Is Virat Kohli gonna retire from tests? pic.twitter.com/i0OkZa8ErU
— Mohammad Kaif (@MohammadKaif) May 11, 2025
‘Kohli tried very hard’
Kaif said that Kohli has been trying his best, but he has been unable to get the better of his weakness – the deliveries bowled outside the off stump. However, he reckons the talisman should make a trip to the UK and look to end his career on a high.
“He tried very hard. His effort was 200 per cent. He always comes to play every match. But it didn’t happen. I saw for the first time that Virat Kohli was out of form after scoring 100 in Australia. This has never happened,” said Kaif.
He scores in every match if he gets a century in the series opener. He keeps scoring. You won’t be able to dismiss him. He has been such a hero of India. Go to England, play well and end your career on a high note. This is my prayer for him. His fans will also pray for him,” he added.
Kohli is India’s most successful Test captain, with the highest win percentage. He led the team in 68 matches. Under Kohli, India won the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in 2018-19 in Australia.
Over his career, he has played 123 Tests, scoring 9230 runs at an average of 46.85. The batter needs 770 runs more to breach the 10,000 run mark in Tests.
