Former India cricketer Aakash Chopra believes Virat Kohli could retire from Test cricket owing to mental exhaustion. He noted that the great hitter of today played the game with a lot of intensity and may have thought he could not continue to do so for five days.
On Monday, May 12, Kohli made his retirement from Test cricket official on social media. Given that he had already retired from T20Is following the Men in Blue’s successful 2024 T20 World Cup campaign, he will only play for India in the ODI format going forward.
The former India opener claimed in a video posted to his YouTube channel, “Aakash Chopra,” that Kohli played Tests with “mad” intensity and may have given up the format because he was maybe losing the will to continue doing so for five days.
“He played Test cricket with the intensity of T20s. He ran a marathon at the speed of a sprint and kept running, and that is absolutely insane. As a batter, you can put all your effort into fielding, but he used to run all over the ground, celebrate every wicket, lift someone, or make someone fall.”
Aakash Chopra
“If not, he was messing with the crowd and driving them. This is mad intensity. It’s one of its kind. We won’t get to see such intensity again, nor did we find it before him. I remember VVS Laxman saying that Virat has many good things, but he fears that intensity might burn out. So maybe it was a mental burnout, that he cannot do this for five days anymore.”
Aakash Chopra
Aakash Chopra stated that Virat Kohli has influenced the next generation. He brought up the fact that the former captain of India demonstrated to the kids that he was playing cricket just like them, albeit in white clothes and over the course of five days.
“There will never be another player like Virat Kohli” – Aakash Chopra
Aakash Chopra praised Virat Kohli for his success in all three formats in the same video, pointing out that other contemporary batting greats like Steve Smith, Joe Root, and Kane Williamson haven’t fared as well.
“There will never be another player like Virat Kohli. He is a three-format master. Where do you get three-format masters now? If you see the Fab Four, none of them is playing all three formats well. If you see the upcoming generation, you see that someone is good in one format, but not in the other.”
Aakash Chopra
According to the former cricket player who is now a broadcaster, no player will be able to dominate all three formats like Kohli did.
“You have anyway started making format-specific teams, and going forward, it will happen a lot more. Virat Kohli has captained and scored runs in T20s. He has the status of the best ever in ODI cricket, and has scored more than 9000 runs in Test cricket. You won’t find such dominance. I think he is the last of this generation.”
Aakash Chopra
Aakash Chopra further emphasized that during Virat Kohli’s Test cricket matches, no venue in the world saw any problems selling tickets. “Now that the world’s biggest cricket influencer has said goodbye to Tests, nations will feel the pinch,” he continued.
