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Indian cricket legend Virat Kohli sent fans into a spiral after announcing his retirement from test match cricket on Monday morning.
The 36-year-old took to social media and revealed his decision to step away from the longest format of the game after 14 years of playing at the top level.
He says he ‘gave everything to the game’ and received ‘more than I could’ve hoped for’ in return but feels the time is right to step down.
Kohli’s retirement comes a week after India captain Rohit Sharma also hung up his boots in test match cricket with both players deciding against playing in the tour of England which begins in just over a month’s time.
On social media, Indian fans and former cricket stars reacted to the news of Kohli’s retirement with many well wishes being sent to the most successful test match captain Indian have had.
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) also praised Kohli and said that his contributions to the team with ‘forever be cherished’.
They posted on X, formerly Twitter: “Thank you, Virat Kohli!
“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!”
Indian cricket journalist Harsha Bhogle revealed that the game owes Kohli ‘big time’ for making test cricket ‘aspirational’ but was saddened by how Kohli will not receive a send off in front of a packed stadium of fans.
Bhogle said: “I would have liked to see #ViratKohli go out of test cricket before a packed stadium. But since that is not to be let us applaud him wherever we are.
“He told a generation weaned on T20 cricket that test cricket is cool and aspirational. And for that, the game owes him big time.”
Former England star, Kevin Pietersen, was completely shocked by the news posting Kohli’s name with a question mark and eight shocked face emojis.
Meanwhile, Indian fan Ravuri Yesanna (@yesannaravuri) wrote: “Thank you, Virat Kohli! An era ends in Test cricket but the legacy will continue FOREVER! Virat Kohli, the former Team India Captain retires from Test cricket.”
Another fan, Divyanshu Singh (@Divyanshu_v18) said: “Not just a retirement. It feels like an era… a part of my heart walked away with Virat Kohli’s Test career today.
“He wasn’t just a player — he was aggression, belief, fire, and pride in that white jersey. Thank you for 14 legendary years, King.”
English (US) ·