While Virat Kohli is definitely in the final phase of his glittering cricket career, and had not enjoyed a good run with the bat in Test cricket, few expected him to actually call it quits from the longest format ahead of India's five-match series against England. Even his wife Anushka Sharma had written in her tribute to him that she always expected him to play his final cricket match in whites. However, former India bowling coach Paras Mhambrey, who worked with Kohli between 2021 and 2024, suggested that Kohli must have known he did not have many more years left in him.
Virat Kohli, aged 36, and Rohit Sharma, now aged 38, announced their retirement from Test cricket in quick succession, during IPL 2025. Their sudden retirements came as a shock to many fans and experts across the cricket fraternity. After all, they were India's two previous Test captains.
However, Mhambrey expressed less surprise.
"Virat didn't have five years of test cricket left in him. You knew that, right? Their (Kohli and Rohit) individual battles that they fought, they must have realised that it was time," Mhambrey said in an interview with Hindustan Times.
"Sometimes, it's the motivation bit. Maybe they were not as motivated to play that format. They'll not be able to give their best to that format. And that's the way they approach. So very selfless approach, both of them," Mhambrey reasoned.
Virat Kohli had endured a rough patch with the bat over the last five years in Test cricket. Apart from 2023, Kohli's batting average in a calendar year did not even reach 30 in any year since 2020.
Kohli's drop in form saw his Test average plummet from well over 50 to a decade-long low of 46.85.
Kohli's final Test series, therefore, ended up being India's 1-3 series loss to Australia in Australia. It was a series where Kohli ended up getting out to the same error - nicking a ball outside off-stump - on every single occasion.
Rohit, on the other hand, had an abrupt fall off. Despite amassing 400 runs in five Tests against England at home at the start of 2024, he suffered a dramatic drop in the series against New Zealand, and then Australia.
After failing to lead India to a Test win in Australia, and scoring 31 runs in five innings, Rohit's spot in the team and position as captain came into question. He retired soon after, with reports suggesting that the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) had decided to move on from him when it comes to Test captaincy.