Virat Kohli Tells BCCI He Wants to Retire from Test Cricket before England Series

Amid the suspension of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 edition for a week due to rising tensions between India and Pakistan, star Indian batter Virat Kohli has informed the BCCI about his intentions to retire from Test cricket.

Just a few days back, the Indian team captain Rohit Sharma dropped the shocking news of his retirement from Test cricket just a few days before the important England tour that commences India’s World Test Championship (WTC) 2025-2027 edition.

Now, according to the latest report from The Indian Express, star batter Virat Kohli has informed the BCCI about his intentions to retire from the game.

A source told the newspaper that Virat has informed the BCCI about his decision to hang up his boots from the red ball cricket, but the BCCI has urged the Indian batter to rethink his decision.

“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,” an unnamed BCCI source informed The Indian Express.

It is being learnt that Virat Kohli hasn’t come to the decision all of a sudden. In fact, he has been considering Test cricket retirement since the Border-Gavaskar Trophy Test series vs Australia, where the batter had a lean patch throughout the series despite scoring a century in the first match.

Virat Kohli has played 123 Test matches for Team India, and he is just a bit shy of completing 10,000 runs, having scored 9230 runs, with an average of 46.9. In his Test career, he has scored a total of 30 centuries and 31 half-centuries.

No Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli in India’s Squad for England series

With Team India set to commence their WTC 2025-2027 journey with the England series, the retirement of Virat Kohli would be a big loss, as captain Rohit Sharma has also announced his decision to retire from the format. India will be left missing two great stalwarts of the game in an important series like the England tour.

The team India selection is set to hold a meeting soon to pick the team for the series. It is learnt that the BCCI and the selection committee led by Ajit Agarkar prefer a young captain to lead the side going into the new World Test Championship cycle.

As per reports, Shubman Gill could be set to lead the team into this all-important series. Despite having the veteran pace bowler Jasprit Bumrah in the squad, given his injury proneness and the option of having a long-term captain in Shubman Gill, the latter has been favored.