Afghanistan and Taliban leader Anas Haqqani has made a bold statement on the retirement of India’s cricket legends Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma. Earlier this year, in May, Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma both retired from the longest format of the game before the tour of England.
Now, he is only active in ODI cricket, retiring from T20I cricket last year after winning the ICC T20 World Cup in the USA and West Indies. Both Virat and Rohit are currently ready to return to India’s colors on the tour of Australia later this year.
Afghanistan leader Anas Haqqani says that Virat Kohli soon retired
Amidst the action of the Asia Cup 2025 in the UAE, Anas Haqqani boldly said that Rohit Sharma’s decision to retire from Test cricket was understood, but he feels that Virat Kohli soon retired from the longest format of the game, which he liked to play the most.
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Anas Haqqani said on the podcast of Shubhankar Mishra on his YouTube channel, “Rohit’s retirement was justified by the test. I do not know the reason behind Kohli’s retirement. Very few people are unique worldwide. I would like to play him up to 50.”
In particular, Kohli ended his 14 -year Test career with 9,230 runs in 123 matches on May 12.
Haqqani suggested that Kohli can continue to play if she maintains her fitness. He also indicated that media pressure in India influenced Kohli’s decision, saying that he is one of the rare players of history who have unique talent and drive.
He also mentioned Joe Root, which continues to chase Sachin Tendulkar’s world record in Test cricket. While Root has scored 13543 runs so far, Tendulkar has 15921 runs.
Haqqani further mentioned, “Perhaps he was irritated by the media in India. He still had time. You can see Joe chasing the route chasing Sachin Tendulkar’s test run.”
Virat Kohli retired very quickly, should be played till 50
Anas hakkani@Anashaqqqani313 pic.twitter.com/mehm63VP5o– ππππΌπππΌπΏ πππΌπ (@khan13ifad) September 13, 2025
Even Chris Gayle recently admitted that Kohli left Test cricket very quickly. Gayle had said, “Oh, yes, very soon. Very soon. Very soon. You know, whatever reason, I do not know, but cricket will miss him 100%. Cricket will miss him. He is a huge, huge person for the game of cricket.”
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Anas Haqqani called 200 of Glenn Maxwell a tragedy in 2023 ODI World Cup
Meanwhile, Anas Haqqani also reacted to Glenn Maxwell’s unforgettable innings against Afghanistan at the 2023 ODI World Cup. He said that it was “a good thing” match was not played in Afghanistan, as Maxwell did not score 200 runs on the soil of the house in Kabul.
He signed, saying, “Regarding Maxwell, it is a good thing that he was far away from us that night. He would not have hit 200 in Kabul. It was a tragedy even from the cricket point of view. Then in the T20 World Cup next year, we defeated him.”
In particular, there are reports that Kohli and Rohit provided three list A matches against Australia A in Kanpur before the Australia Tour for India, which will be closed on October 19 at the prestigious Optus Stadium in Perth.
