New Delhi:

Team India will undergo a crucial five-Test series against the Englishmen and, for the first time in recent years, looks set to take the field without two of their highly experienced batters. If Kohli doesn’t reverse his decision, and with Rohit already out of the picture, India will be left with a largely inexperienced middle-order that will then join forces with Shubman Gill, KL Rahul, and Yashasvi Jaiswal at the top, and with Rishabh Pant down the order.

As per a report in the Indian Express, the former India skipper is yet to respond to the board’s request to give the retirement decision a second thought. “He has made up his mind and has informed the board that he is moving on from Test cricket. The BCCI has urged him to rethink as the crucial England tour is coming up. He is yet to revert on the request,” sources told the newspaper.

Team India batting ace Virat Kohli reportedly wishes to take retirement from Test cricket and has even informed the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) about his decision. This comes days before the selectors get ready to pick the Indian Test squad for the England tour scheduled next month. However, the top officials from the board have asked him to reconsider the decision.

Only three days back, his compatriot and long-time friend Rohit Sharma had announced his retirement from Tests, and it can be said that Kohli’s decision has been derived from it. The report added that Kohli was contemplating his Test future since India’s drubbing at the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in Australia earlier this year, in which he went through a lean patch of form after hitting a ton in the first Test.

Test stats

His average in the recent Australia tour was a meagre 23.75 from five Tests. He was dismissed eight times in the tour and fell prey to the deliveries outside off stump on seven occasions. He talked about the disappointment from that tour during an event for his Indian Premier League (IPL) team Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) in March, saying, “I might not have an Australia tour again in me in four years time.”

Nonetheless, there have been reports of Shubman Gill being looked at as the new Test skipper for Team India. The board was reportedly looking for a younger player as the captain for the new Test cycle, and Gill emerges as the frontrunner to replace the now-retired Rohit.

Kohli, 36, has featured for India in 123 Tests and has amassed 9,230 runs with the help of 30 hundreds and 31 fifties, and averages 46.85. His red ball debut came almost 14 years ago against the West Indies at Kingston on June 29. Kohli’s average has considerably dipped in the last five years, as he has aggregated 1,990 runs in 37 games with only three hundreds.

Read More:

Red alert in multiple states, as Army thwarts Islamabad’s drone barrage