Virat Kohli announced his Test Cricket retirement after great Records
The international cricket audience was in shock as star Indian batter Virat Kohli announced his test cricket retirement after great records in the longest format of cricket. The star batter started his international career in tests in June 2011 during the Indian tour of the West Indies. He struggled to score runs on his debut series against the West Indies. But who knew at that time that he would be the most challenging player of his era? Virat Kohli, the legendary player of India, ended his Test cricket international career by announcing his Test cricket retirement on Monday, 12 May 2025. He ended his Test career, which spanned almost 14 years, after playing 123 Tests in which he made 9230 runs, averaging 46.85 with a milestone of 30 centuries, and he led the Indian side in 68 Tests. Virat Kohli was among the great players in Test cricket and also one of the most successful captains and players in Test cricket. He left the Test cricket field with a great legacy not only for Indian batters but also for the whole world of Test cricket.
Kohli’s Journey of Test Cricket
Virat Kohli’s Test debut to retirement is an amazing journey that was full of iconic moments, and several milestones have been achieved in this period but Virat Kohli announced his Test cricket retirement after great records. Kohli’s cricket journey started when he played his debut Test match against the West Indies in 2011. He made just 4 runs in his 1st inning in the first test at Kingston while playing at number 5. Kohli made 76 runs in his debut series against the West Indies in 5 innings.
Virat Kohli made his 1st Test fifty against West Indies in the first inning of 3rd Test at Wankhede in 2011 and also smashed 63 in the second inning and proved his skills as a rising star. Kohli smashed his first Test match 100 in the 4th Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy at Adelaide in the toughest and challenging series for India against Australia in January 2012. Virat Kohli was the only player of India who scored the highest runs, scoring 300 runs for his side in this series.
Virat Kohli proved himself again as a great Test player in the series between India and New Zealand in 2012. He smashed 212 runs with a brilliant Bengaluru hundred in this two-match series. He was the second-highest run scorer in this series after Cheteshwar Pujara. Virat Kohli ended his home series against Australia in 2013 with the fifth most runs in the series of 284 runs, including one hundred, averaging 56.80 in 6 innings. Also in the series against South Africa in 2013, he was the second-highest run scorer in the two-match series. He scored 272 runs with an average of 68, including one hundred in this series.
Again, Virat Kohli continued his Test journey with a hundred against New Zealand in 2014 in a two-match series. He scored third third-most runs in this series, which is 214, averaging 71.33.
Virat Kohli played one of his dream Test innings against Australia in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2014/15 at the end of 2014. He smashed the series’ second-most 692 runs with an average of 86.50. He recorded four hundred and one fifty, including 169 highest runs of the 3rd Test at Melbourne in the series. This series was also important for Virat because he was given the responsibility to lead India in the Tests in the 1st Test of the series. He recorded himself as the only Indian captain who smashed centuries in both innings of his debut Test match as a captain in the 2014 series against Australia at Adelaide in the first Test.
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India won the Test series against Sri Lanka in 2015 under Kohli’s captaincy, where Virat made 233 in six innings, including one century after the series loss against Australia. This was India’s first successful series win under Virat’s captaincy. Virat Kohli won his second Test series as a captain against South Africa in 2015, which was hosted by India. He made 200 runs in this series.
Virat made 200 runs as a captain against WI in the Test innings of the first inning of the 1st Test at North Sound in July 2016, where he led the Indian side to a successful series. Virat made 251 runs in this four-match Test series and became the top run scorer. This was the 3rd consecutive Test series win of India under Virat’s captaincy.
The 4th consecutive series win of India under Virat’s captaincy was against NZ in 2016 during the New Zealand tour of India. Kohli made 309 runs in six innings in this series, including a double hundred by him in the 3rd Test at Indore in 2016. India whitewashed NZ under the leadership of Kohli in this series. Kohli smashed another double hundred in 2016 in a Test against England during the 4th Test at Mumbai, where he led the Indian side in a five-match Test series, and India won the series 4-0. Kohli was the top run scorer of the series as he made 655 runs in 8 innings with a huge average of 109.16.
Virat Kohli smashed another double hundred against Bangladesh at the start of 2017 and won only the Test. Then, India beat Australia this year by 2-1 in a four-match Test series under the leadership of Kohli. India whitewashed Sri Lanka in the 2017 tour under the captaincy of Kohli.
Virat Kohli smashed two double hundreds in the Test series against Sri Lanka during the Sri Lanka tour of India in 2017. Kohli made 213 in the second match and 243 in the third Test of the series. Overall, Kohli made 610 runs in 5 innings while averaging 152.50 in this series as a captain. India won the series by 1-0 (3). These were the nine successive wins of the Test series by India under Kohli’s captaincy before the loss of the series against South Africa in January 2018. In this series against SA, Kohli made 286 runs in six innings.
Virat’s 593 runs couldn’t save India from the series loss against England during India’s tour of England in 2018. The famous Test series win by India in late 2018 was against Australia during their tour of Australia under Kohli’s leadership. This was a huge achievement by India.
Kohli smashed 254, his career best score during the second Test against SA in 2019 at Pune while captaining India to a successful series win. Kohli made 297 runs in 6 innings in the series against Australia, whe/re India won the home series under Rohit Sharma’s captaincy.
Kohli came back in form in 2023 after a few years of a low average in Test cricket during the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in India. He made 297 runs in six innings with a hundred in this series against Australia. Then he smashed another century against the West Indies in the same year.
Virat Kohli’s last Test match was against Australia at Sydney, where he scored just 23 runs in two innings. He made 190 runs in nine innings during the five-match Test series against Australia, and this was his last Test series. After this, Virat Kohli announced his Test cricket retirement, leaving international Test cricket with great records. The legendary Indian batsman left behind great Test cricket achievements and a legacy for cricket lovers by inspiring through his milestones in the red-ball cricket format.
Also Read: Future of Test Cricket: Dying or Evolving?
Kohli’s cricket journey was full of inspiring cricket records as a successful Test captain. This made him the most successful Test captain of India as he led India in 68 Tests from 2014 to 2022, where India won 40 Tests. Virat Kohli’s Test retirement news was heartbreaking for cricket fans and experts because cricket lovers were crazy to watch him on the field. This was difficult for cricket experts that why Virat Kohli retired from Tests, as this was seen as an early leave.
Virat Kohli’s Test Records
Virat Kohli announced his Test cricket retirement after several great records.
- Virat Kohli’s contribution to Indian Test cricket was estimated as he was the only Indian captain who led his side in the most Test matches. Similarly, he was the 6th captain overall in the world of Tests.
- He was the 7th player in the world who reach the 7000 fastest runs milestone in Test cricket. He achieved this record in 138 innings on 10 October 2019 while playing against South Africa at Pune.
- Most successful Indian Test captain, Virat Kohli, won 40 contests for India and overall the 4th most successful captain.
- Kohli was the only Indian Test player who smashed seven double hundreds.
- 30 Virat Kohli’s centuries in Tests made him the 4th most Indian player to achieve this feat.
- Kohli’s 9230 runs in Tests are also the 4th most runs by an Indian batter.
Indian Test team, after Virat Kohli’s retirement, is in a transition phase because Rohit Sharma also retired from Tests in the same month. These two legendary players were the two big game changers of his era.