Sawt Falasteen - Indian great Kohli follows Rohit in retiring from Test cricket

The batting great Kohli scored 9,230 runs in 123 matches at an average of 46.85, but his Test form has fallen away markedly in the last two years.

Since making his Test debut in 2011, Kohli struck 30 hundreds and 31 fifties with a highest score of 254 not out, mainly batting at number four in the order.

"It's been 14 years since I first wore the baggy blue in Test cricket," the 36-year-old Kohli posted to his 271 million followers on Instagram.

"Honestly, I never imagined the journey this format would take me on. It's tested me, shaped me and taught me lessons I'll carry for life.

"As I step away from this format, it's not easy -- but it feels right. I've given it everything I had and it's given me back so much more than I could've hoped for."

Kohli retired from T20s last year after winning the World Cup but like Test captain Rohit, who announced his retirement from red-ball cricket last week, he is expected to continue in the one-day game.

An inspirational figure and icon to Indian cricket fans, Kohli was the country's most successful Test captain with 40 wins and 17 defeats in 68 matches before stepping down from the role in 2022.

"I'm walking away with a heart full of gratitude -- for the game, for the people I shared the field with and for every single person who made me feel seen along the way," Kohli said.

"I'll always look back at my Test career with a smile."

The fiercely competitive Kohli averaged close to 55 at his peak between 2011 and 2019, but he could muster only 32.56 over the past 24 months in Tests and had come under pressure.

- 'Lion's passion' -

Kohli's last Test was in Sydney in January when India lost the match and with it the series 3-1 to Australia.

Apart from an unbeaten century in the second innings of the first Test in Perth, Kohli managed just 90 runs from eight innings in the five-Test series.

Kohli is part of the "Fab Four" quartet of batting greats who dominated Test cricket over the past decade, alongside Steve Smith of Australia, Kane Williamson of New Zealand and Joe Root of England.

Nicknamed "King Kohli", he was India's batting backbone across three international formats and ended his Twenty20 career with a match-winning innings in the World Cup final victory in Barbados last year.

Kohli then walked away from the shortest format along with Rohit.

Kohli's retirement statement had within an hour of being posted generated more than six million "likes" and in excess of half a million comments on social media as fans and fellow cricketers paid tribute.

India cricket coach Gautam Gambhir wrote on X: "A man with lion's passion!"

Former India batsman Sanjay Manjrekar posted on social media: "Biggest brand of the modern cricket era who gave it all for cricket's oldest format. Test cricket owes that debt to Virat Kohli."

Former batsman Navjot Singh Sidhu said: "The Greatest Indian cricketer of all times bids adieu to Test cricket. Thank you Virat Kohli for being a cup of joy to world cricket."

South Africa great and Kohli's IPL mate AB de Villiers called Kohli a "true legend".

"Your determination & skill have always inspired me," he wrote.

Indian selectors are due next week to name the squad for the five-Test series in England. The first match begins on June 20 in Leeds.

E.Qaddoumi--SF-PST