Raina calls for Kohli to be conferred with Bharat Ratna, urges BCCI to give batting superstar a farewell game in Delhi

Suresh Raina has called for Virat Kohli to be bestowed with the ‘Bharat Ratna’ and urged the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) to give the batting icon a proper farewell. Former India batter Raina’s suggestions come nearly a week after Kohli announced his retirement from Test cricket , bringing a 14-year journey in whites to an end during which he scored more than 9,000 runs and became India’s most successful captain in the red-ball format.

“The number of achievements Virat Kohli has accomplished, and whatever he has done for India and Indian cricket, for that he should be honoured with the Bharat Ratna. The Government of India should give him the Bharat Ratna award,” Raina said on Star Sports.

The ‘Bharat Ratna’ is the highest civilian award in India and is presented by the President. Legendary batter Sachin Tendulkar is the only sportsperson to have received the award. Kohli had been conferred with the Arjuna Award in 2013 and the Padma Shri four years later. He also received the Khel Ratna – India’s highest sporting honour, in 2018.

Kohli should make his final appearance in front of family and coach, says Raina

Raina added that Kohli should be given a farewell match in Delhi, his hometown, in front of his family and childhood coach Raj Kumar Sharma.

“I also feel he should be given a retirement match in Delhi. His family and coach would have been there to support him. After doing so much for the country, you communicate with him because he deserves a retirement match,” Raina added.

While a farewell Test in Delhi appears unlikely now that Kohli has already called time on his career with immediate effect, Bengaluru’s M Chinnaswamy Stadium – the only venue he has called his home in the Indian Premier League – paid tribute to the cricket superstar during Saturday’s match against Kolkata Knight Riders, which ultimately was washed out without a ball bowled. Several fans turned up wearing India’s white Test jersey and a large banner at the venue thanked him for “making Red Ball cricket exciting again”.

It remains to be seen if Kohli gets to make the final appearance of his playing career at Delhi’s Arun Jaitley Stadium, formerly the Feroz Shah Kotla Stadium.

Kohli had announced his retirement on Test cricket in a post on social networking platform Instagram on Monday, signing off from the format with 9,230 runs in 123 appearances at an average of 46.85, collecting 30 centuries and 31 fifties along the way. The 36-year-old also led India to 40 wins in 68 matches as Test captain between 2014 and 2022.

His announcement, which took the cricketing world by surprise, came more than a month before the five-Test series between India and England was to get underway.

Fellow batting stalwart Rohit Sharma too had retired from the format less than a week earlier, meaning the two modern-day greats did not get to a farewell match in whites, having made their final appearances in the recent tour of Australia.

Both Rohit and Kohli had retired from Twenty20 Internationals last year, and will be focusing on the One-Day Internationals going forward, with their eyes fixed on the 2027 ICC World Cup in South Africa.