Following Virat Kohli's retirement from Test cricket, the vice-president of the Board of Control for Cricket (BCCI), Rajeev Shukla hailed the star batter for his contribution in the longest format, saying that while they do not feel good about him leaving, the board respects his personal decision.
In a massive development ahead of the England tour of five matches, which will kickstart India's ICC World Test Championship 2025-27 campaign, Kohli announced his retirement from Tests after 14 years, marking an end to a brilliant career spanning 123 Tests.
Speaking to ANI, Shukla said, "The contribution of Virat Kohli for Test Cricket and India has been great. Any amount of praise is less. We are not feeling good that he has retired from Test Cricket. But it is his individual decision, and BCCI never puts pressure on a player for retirement. We should respect his decision.
"He must have thought about something before arriving to it. We will surely miss him in Test cricket as he is such a great batter," Shukla added.
Kohli on Monday announced his retirement from Test cricket, ending a spectacular run in the format which celebrated him as its saviour at a time when T20 cricket took centre-stage globally.
The 36-year-old Kohli, who admitted that it wasn't an easy call to make, turned up in 123 Tests for India, scoring 9230 runs with 30 hundreds at an average of 46.85. He will now only play in ODIs, having already retired from T20 Internationals last year.
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