Indian cricket is heading for a crisis.
After Rohit Sharma announced his retirement from Test cricket with immediate effect on Wednesday, May 7, 2025, the Indian Express newspaper reported on Saturday, May 10, morning that Virat Kohli has told the Board of Control for Cricket in India that he too wants to quit the longest format of the game.
According to the Indian Express, Kohli informed the BCCI that he wants to retire from Test cricket. However, the Board has asked him to reconsider the decision with the five Test series against England coming up next month.
'He has made up his mind and has informed the Board that he is moving on from Test cricket. The BCCI has urged him to rethink as the crucial England tour is coming up. He is yet to revert on the request,' a BCCI official told the Indian Express.
India's selectors will meet in a few days to select the team for the Test series in England.
Kohli has been contemplating his Test future since the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in Australia series earlier this year when he went through a lean run after scoring a century in the first Test.
He yelled at himself and punched his thigh, as he got out for the eighth time edging behind the wicket in his nine visits to the crease in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy series.
He was one of the biggest letdowns in the first two Tests against New Zealand, scoring just 88 runs, falling to spin thrice times in four innings.
Once rated as one of the top batters of this generation, Kohli's stock has fallen quite rapidly in Tests in the last few years.
In 123 Tests, Kohli has scored 9230 runs, at an average of 46.85, including 30 centuries and 31 fifties.
Since 2020 he has scored three hundreds and averaged 30.72.
If Kohli doesn't change his mind, and Rohit out of the picture, India will have to make do with an inexperienced middle-order to team up with K L Rahul, Shubman Gill and Yashasvi Jaiswal at the top.
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