India’s former World Cup winner Madan Lal has shared his views on Virat Kohli’s Test retirement. The former all-rounder expressed disappointment over Kohli’s Test retirement as he believed that Kohli should have played for a few more years in the traditional format of the game and could have also led the team for a few more years.
Virat Kohli retired from Test cricket after a poor tour in Australia, as he announced his retirement on 12 May 2025, just before the England Test series. The former India captain left the captaincy in January 2022 and Rohit Sharma took the captaincy from him.
“I am feeling a bit disappointed”- Madan Lal upset with Virat Kohli’s early Test retirement
Discussing on YouTube channel KADAK, Madan Lal said that when Kohli was the captain of the Men in Blue, he was aggressive and played fearless cricket in all formats especially Test cricket and imposed a winning mentality inside the team.
“I am a bit disappointed about Virat, because he still has a lot of Test cricket left in him. Virat gave a new direction to Indian cricket. He brought aggression and taught the team to win. But I don’t know what happened to Virat. I don’t know who the selector was at that time, but I think he made a mistake.”
“He should have been allowed to remain captain. This is my personal opinion. I believe there was some communication gap between them because, in my view, Virat could have remained captain for the next two or three years.”
Virat Kohli’s test career
Virat Kohli finished his Test career as one of India’s greatest red-ball cricketers, scoring 9,230 runs at an average of 46.85, including 30 centuries, in 123 matches.
As captain, he led India in 68 Test matches and won 40 and led the team to the top of the ICC Test rankings. They had the record for most home Test series wins (11 wins, 1 draw) with an impressive home win percentage of 77.41%. Also led India to its first Test series win in Australia in 2018-19.
Madan Lal highlights Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma
Madan Lal also shared his views on the future of Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli for the ODI World Cup 2027, provided they maintain their fitness till the next major tournament.
“Yes, absolutely, he should continue. There are two things to look at: fitness level and performance. If he can maintain both, he should continue playing.”
“I can explain it with Virat. He is one of the smartest cricketers I have seen in my life. He reads the game, understands the situation and thinks accordingly. If three wickets have already fallen, he knows it is his responsibility to bat like that to take the team to a score where they can fight or even win the match.”
“Earlier people used to say that Virat does not bat fast. It was never about batting fast. He understands the situation, understands the game and plays as per the need of the team.”
