 "Shastri wanted Kohli to continue in Tests, but a chat changed his mind: ‘Yes, the time is right’")
One of Virat Kohli’s closest allies and former Indian cricket team head coach Ravi Shastri has revealed the reasons why the star batter decided to retire from Test cricket. However, he doesn’t agree with Kohli’s decision. Shastri also revealed that he had a chat with Kohli a week before he made his retirement decision public and while the former India captain did not have “any regrets,” the former coach certainly had a few questions to ask.
Kohli stunned the cricketing world by announcing his Test retirement on 12 May as he announced retirement from Test cricket, a format that he has championed for a decade. The sudden retirement opened Pandora’s box as fans and experts started speculating that the decision was forced upon him.
Kohli had ’no regrets’ about retiring
However, Shastri has clarified that Kohli had no regrets and no doubts in his mind about retiring from Test cricket.
“I did speak to him about it, I think a week before that [his announcement] and his mind was very clear that he had given us everything,” Shastri told Sanjana Ganesan in The ICC Review.
“There were no regrets. There were one or two questions I asked, and that is a personal conversation which, you know, he mentioned very clearly, there were no doubts in his mind, which made me think, ‘Yes, the time is right’. The mind has told his body that it’s time to go.”
But it’s weird, right? Kohli is known for his supreme fitness, so why retire at just 36? Shastri explained that Kohli has played his entire career with an unmatched passion and energy. This kind of involvement was bound to lead to burnout.
Impact Shorts
View All“If he decided to do something, then he gave his 100 per cent, which is not easy to match,” Shastri said. “Individually, as a bowler, as a batsman,” Shastri said.
“A player does his job, [and] then you sit back. But [with Kohli] when the team goes out, it is as if he has to take all the wickets, he has to take all the catches, he has to make all the decisions on the field.
“That much involvement, I would think there is going to be a burnout somewhere if he does not take a rest, if he does not compartmentalise how much he wants to play across formats, there is bound to be a burnout.”
Kohli could have played more: Shastri
While acknowledging Kohli’s burnout, Shastri did not shy away from pointing out that he felt Kohli could have played a few more years of test cricket.
“Virat surprised me because I thought he had at least two-three years of Test match cricket left in him,” he said.
“But then, when you’re mentally fried and overcooked, that’s what tells your body. You might be physically the fittest guy in the business. You might be fitter than half the guys in your team, but mentally you are well done, as they say, then it sends a message to the body. You know, that is it.”
Shastri also touched upon Kohli’s influence on world cricket and how he helped cricket grow as a sport.
“He has got accolades around the globe. He has a bigger following than any other cricketer in the last decade,” Shastri said. “Whether it is Australia, whether it is South Africa, he just got people to watch the game. There was a love-hate relationship.”
“They would get angry because he had the ability to get under the skin of the viewer also. In the way he celebrated, you know his intensity was such that it was like a rash.”
“It spread very quickly, not just within the dressing room, but within living rooms as well for people watching cricket. So he was an infectious personality.”
Lastly, Shastri added that while he feels Kohli could have played more Test matches, he leaves with all achievements unlocked.
“At times when you quit the game, you know, and after a month or two months you say, ‘I wish I had done this, I wish I had done this.’
“[Kohli] He’s done everything. He’s captained sides, he’s won World Cups, he has won an Under-19 World Cup [2008] himself. I mean, there’s nothing for him to achieve,” he concluded.
Kohli retired after playing 123 Tests for India, in which he scored 9230 runs at 46.85 with 30 centuries and 31 fifties. As captain, he has the best record for India with 40 wins from the 68 Tests, 13 more than the second-best MS Dhoni.
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