During the 2024–25 Border-Gavaskar Trophy in Australia, Indian veteran Virat Kohli reportedly made multiple indications to his teammates about his intention to retire from Test cricket. Despite hitting a century in the first game of the series, the star batsman only amassed 190 runs in nine innings.
Prior to the 2025–27 World Test Championship (WTC) cycle, the right-hander stated his plan to retire from the Test format. However, the senior batsman has now been asked to change his mind by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI).
The astonishment and anxiety were increased by the news, which follows Rohit Sharma’s recent revelation that he will be retiring from Test cricket. Following several such dismissals during the Australia trip, the top-order batsman became irate and reportedly told teammates several times that he was done playing Test cricket.
The top-order batsmen Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill also struggled throughout the series, so it wasn’t just the Delhi-born batsman who was having trouble.
Virat Kohli had already resigned as Test skipper following India’s defeat in the 2021–22 away series to South Africa.
He then gave up captaincy at Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) and leadership positions in white-ball cricket. Shubman Gill is allegedly being considered by the Indian team management as a possible leader for the Test team as they look to the future.
“A new cycle of WTC is beginning. From the team’s perspective, continuity and the future must be considered. Even coach Gautam Gambhir would want to have a group of players he can work with for a long time. Stopgap fixes are impossible for a series of this magnitude. The England series is extremely important, according to a source cited by The Times of India, as the team hasn’t performed well in the last two Test series.
The 2025–27 WTC cycle will begin on June 20 with the opening of India vs. England, a five-match Test series.
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