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After the conclusion of the 5-match T20I series, the India national cricket team will face the England national cricket team in a three-match ODI series. Virat Kohli is part of the ODI squad after clearing the fitness test following the hamstring injury sustained in the Tata Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026 final, which kept him out of the Afghanistan series.
Virat Kohli is fully fit and will try to dominate the upcoming series. He has been in sensational form recently. In the last two series played against South Africa and New Zealand respectively, he finished as the leading run scorer for the team with a total of 542 runs in the bilateral ODI series.
Virat Kohli will continue his form in ODI cricket
He scored 302 runs at an average of 151.00 in the series against South Africa and 240 runs at an average of 80.00 against New Zealand. The 37-year-old player scored 3 combined centuries in the South Africa and New Zealand bilateral ODI series.
It will be a big series as Virat Kohli is coming back from the 50-over format after a long gap. Virat Kohli currently plays only one format as he retired from Test and T20I cricket a long time ago. Ahead of the series, India’s former World Cup-winning captain Kapil Dev has shared his views on Virat’s retirement from Test cricket.
Kapil Dev spoke openly on Virat Kohli leaving Test cricket
While talking on Sportstak Podcast, Kapil Dev was asked whether he had suddenly retired from Test cricket, although to be honest, Virat’s graph in Test cricket had started falling. At that time, he had around 9,230 Test runs and could have scored 10,000. Kapil Dev said it is not about runs; He left the game in despair.
“It’s not about 10,000 runs or anything like that. I just felt that if he had controlled his emotions for the next six months and not walked out in anger, he might have got another chance to play for India. If you leave the game in frustration, you will never get another chance to represent India. After that, you can just talk about it.”
“Don’t take decisions in anger or react impulsively when you are still playing. He had resigned from Test captaincy earlier also. I think it was his own thought process and he had every right to take this decision.”
“He still has the ability to play Test cricket”- Kapil Dev when asked if Virat Kohli has something to offer to Test cricket
Kapil Dev believes that he still had time and could have been more patient by giving himself some more time. He could have made a comeback in domestic cricket if the selectors and captain had not supported you and picked you and scored runs there and after performing in the domestic format, came back because he still had some more Test cricket left in him.
“But from the outside looking in, it looks like he still has time. If the selectors don’t pick you, that’s okay. Give yourself some time. If the captain doesn’t back you, that’s okay too. Work hard and score more runs.”
“Players like Mohinder Amarnath and Anshuman Gaikwad came back after scoring runs in domestic cricket. Be it IPL or domestic tournaments, keep performing and you will come back because the potential is still there.”
“He still has the ability to play Test cricket. So it was disappointing that he took the decision a little earlier than expected.”
