Virat Kohli announced his retirement from Test cricket on May 12. His decision to retire took everyone by surprise, given his commitment to Test cricket.
India will be without Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli now in Test and T20I cricket. The BCCI is already looking out for Kohli and Rohit's replacements in the Indian Test setup.
Both Rohit and Kohli announced their Test retirements in a space of five days. Rohit announced it on May 7, while Kohli on May 12. Meanwhile, India will be playing a five-match Test series against England, with the Test side looking pretty inexperienced in the absence of the veterans. Anil Kumble has backed Karun Nair to replace Kohli in the England series.
Also Read: Moeen Ali Favors Jasprit Bumrah as Captain, Calls Shubman Gill Inexperienced
Credit Goes To Virat - Shanker Basu On Team India's Modern Fitness Standards
Meanwhile, Kohli's contribution to Indian cricket cannot be estimated only by the runs he scored across formats. He also brought about a fitness culture within the side. His former teammates and the young players took a liking to fitness, seeing Kohli's commitment.
Former India Strength and Conditioning coach Shanker Basu, who worked with Kohli in the Indian team and also at RCB, spoke about how Kohli started a trend in fitness within Indian cricket. He also looked back at some of the intense training sessions he had with Kohli.
"He is the first cricketer who decided to train like an Olympic athlete. He didn't want to train with oft-repeated methods, he wanted to do something different. He is a very good student. He will have a lot of questions initially, and once he was convinced he will go in that direction. The sign of a good leader is that first he will turn into a role model, which Virat did with aplomb,” Basu told The Times of India.
"From there, one by one, the entire team started embracing that culture. The Indian team was an embodiment of fitness over a period. I remember a time when one of the foreign coaches came and asked one of our team members what our team was doing? Virat and the whole bunch are moving like athletes and their agility is unbelievable. But I would say all the credit goes to Virat," Basu added.
Also Read: Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli's Grade A+ Contract To Continue After Test, T20I Retirements
Rohit, Kohli To Return In IPL 2025
Kohli retired as the fourth-highest run-getter for India in Test cricket and the second-highest run-getter in T20I cricket. Rohit tops the list of run-getters in T20I cricket at the moment. Besides that, Kohli has 51 ODI centuries, a record unlikely to be broken in ODI cricket anytime soon.
Both Kohli and Rohit will be back to playing in the IPL with the season resuming from May 17.
Also Read: " Why Did You Retire?" - Fan's Remark Stuns Virat Kohli Post Test Retirement
