New Delhi: It was just another Monday until it was, as Virat Kohli left the cricketing world in shock by announcing his retirement from Test cricket at 36. Kohli, one of the best batters of the modern era and arguably one of the fittest athletes in the world, brought down the curtains on an illustrious red-ball career spanning over 14 years for India.
While many feel Kohli easily had another couple of years in the tank and could have comfortably lasted the new World Test Championship (WTC) cycle that would begin for India with the five-match Test series against England next month, Kohli felt the timing was ‘right’. Once a run machine across formats, Kohli used to smash centuries for fun and seemed unstoppable.
No record looked too far for the incredibly consistent batter, who dominated bowling attacks in all parts of the world. But in the last five years, Kohli’s performances in Tests dipped and dipped severely. His runs dried up significantly, and the struggles in Australia during the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25 were perhaps the final nail in the coffin.
Kohli continuously kept poking deliveries outside off and was dismissed a plethora of times in identical fashion to end the Australia Test series with just 190 runs in 5 Tests, that included a hundred in the first Test. The writing was on the wall, but as he had on several occasions in the past, many thought Kohli would be up for the challenge. Only to make peace with the fact that even Kings have to call it a day.
Kohli’s decision to quit Test cricket came days after Rohit called time on his red-ball career for India. And just like that, two of the strongest pillars of the present Indian Test team are gone, leaving the current team management staring at a complete rebuild. While Kohli commanded Test cricket, holding India’s batting line-up with his heroics at 4, Rohit was arguably one of the most prolific run-getters for the team in the last few years.
Can India’s next-gen carry the Test legacy forward?
With both Kohli and Rohit retiring inside a week, India are in uncharted territory as far as Test cricket is concerned. There is uncertainty and rightfully so, as there are still doubts over whether India’s next generation is ready to take over the mantle and carry the legacy of a team that has been known for its batting excellence over the years.
When the likes of Rahul Dravid, VVS Laxman, Sachin Tendulkar and Virender Sehwag quit Tests, there were questions if India would ever be able to fill the vacuum left. But India has always been blessed with batting talents of excellent calibre, and it didn’t take the team long to bridge the gap as Kohli rose to the occasion along with the likes of Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane.
But Kohli had been around for quite some time and was prepared for his favourite format – Tests, and Pujara and Rahane’s games were tailor-made for the longest format. The transition was smooth, and the void never felt too much. However, the same can’t be said about India’s current set of batters in Tests.
Shubman Gill is ready to be given the leadership role despite not having yet attained the consistency he would have desired with the bat in Test cricket, and Yashasvi Jaiswal, though supremely talented and having proven his mettle in West Indies and Australia, might face the biggest Test of his career in moving conditions in England.
Sai Sudharsan, who has been tipped to become a future India regular in Tests, is yet to make his debut in the whites, while the likes of Nitish Reddy, Sarfaraz Khan and Dhruv Jurel haven’t been tested enough yet to determine if they have it in them to regularly cope with the demands of Test cricket. The inexperienced Indian batting line-up has not had the exposure to the rigours of Test cricket as much as the team management would have liked.
There is no dearth of talent in the current Indian batting line-up, but the youngsters will be thrown at the deep end in England, one of the most difficult conditions to ace in Test cricket. And the responsibility to guide the young team will fall on India’s head coach Gautam Gambhir, who would be under tremendous pressure himself, having overseen the team’s back-to-back defeats in their last two Test series against New Zealand and Australia.
The onus will be on Gambhir to help the young boys turn into men as they embrace the challenge of thriving in Tests. But ultimately, it will be on India’s young crop to take inspiration from their past generation to build for the future and ensure the domination in the longest format continues in the years to come.
As Virat Kohli follows Rohit Sharma in retiring from Test cricket, the spotlight is on India’s gen-next, who will not only have to carry India’s batting legacy forward but will also have to ensure the senior duo’s absence is not felt on tours in immediate future. Cricket Sports News: Latest Cricket News, Cricket Live Score, Sports Breaking News from Sports Today
