"Should Respect His Decision...": BCCI's Big Take On Virat Kohli Retirement

After Virat Kohli's retirement from Test cricket, the Board of Control for Cricket (BCCI) vice-president 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, Virat Kohli announced his retirement from Tests after 14 years, marking an end to a brilliant career spanning 14 years and 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."

He made his Test debut in June 2011 against the West Indies. While his first Test tour was a massive disappointment with just 76 runs in five innings, a young Virat made a name for himself with some serious, counter-attacking knocks in the coming days. His rise as a Test player started with his maiden ton against Australia at Adelaide in 2012, when he made 116 in 213 balls. In a tour where no other could touch 300 runs for India and giants like Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, VVS Laxman, and Virender Sehwag looked a shadow of their dominant selves, Virat top-scored for India with 300 runs in four Tests, including a century and fifty. Between 2011 and 2015, he made 2,994 runs in 41 Tests at an average of 44.03, with 11