Ajit Agarkar reveals when Virat Kohli reached him out about test retirement plan

Virat Kohli announced his retirement from test cricket on May 12.

The Board of Control for Cricket in India’s (BCCI) chief selector Ajit Agarkar broke silence on Virat Kohli’s test retirement during the squad announcement of the Indian Cricket Team for the England test tour. He revealed when the premier batter conveyed to the selection committee about his decision to quit the longest format of the game. 

Indian cricket was jolted with a massive blow earlier this month after senior batter Virat Kohli announced his retirement from test cricket. The right-hander made the decision public through the social media post, highlighting that it was a tough call for him to take but he enjoyed his time. 

Virat Kohli’s decision to announce the test retirement came as a massive surprise because the batter still had test cricket left in him, especially with him being the fittest in the team. What came as a shock was that he also conveyed to his Delhi coach, Sarandeep Singh, that he wants to do well in the England series. 

However, despite all this, he announced his test retirement and it didn’t go well with many. Fans, as well as experts, believed that it had something to do behind the doors, and even some reports in Dainik Jagran suggested that BCCI had conveyed to him that he isn’t part of the future plans. Hence, he was forced to take the call.

Virat reached out [in] early April – Ajit Agarkar

Amid all this, Ajit Agarkar, who announced the Indian squad for the test series against England at the BCCI headquarters in Mumbai, was asked about Virat Kohli’s retirement. Replying to this, the chief selector said that the batter reached out to them in April and conveyed that he had decided to retire. 

“Virat reached out [in] early April & said he had made up his mind (to retire from test cricket),” Ajit Agarkar told reporters. 

Virat Kohli’s decision to retire came just a few days after Rohit Sharma announced his test retirement. This means that the upcoming England tour will mark the beginning of a new era in the Indian cricket team under the leadership of young Shubman Gill. 

Virat Kohli’s last test was during the fifth game of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25 at the Sydney Cricket Ground in Sydney. The premier batter didn’t have a great outing in the series as after slamming a magnificent century in the first game in Perth, he mustered just 90 runs in the last four games. 

Virat Kohli, who once spoke about his desire to score 10,000 test runs, ended up with 9230 runs from 123 matches at an average of 46.85 including 30 centuries and 31 fifties. He also captained India in 68 games, and out of those, he won 40 games and 11 draws and ended as the most successful test captain of India.

For more updates, follow Khel Now Cricket on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Youtube; download the Khel Now Android App or IOS App and join our community on Whatsapp & Telegram.