New Delhi: Virat Kohli’s retirement is a huge loss to Test cricket but his announcement on Monday was not entirely surprising. Perhaps the microscopic attention “became too much” for the superstar towards the fag end of his career in the longest format.
Kohli was credited with single-handedly keeping Test cricket alive with his exceptional commitment to the format and now expect the ‘dying’ ODI cricket to regain relevance with the Indian superstar only available for that form of the game.
Though Kohli had an exciting challenge ahead of him in the five-Test series in England, the end seemed near for India’s most successful Test captain.
In his retirement statement, Kohli insisted it was the right decision and he was walking away with no regrets and only a smile on his face.
Considering his exemplary fitness levels, on display in the IPL where he has shown remarkable consistency, Kohli could have easily carried on for at least one more season.
In a podcast with his IPL team Royal Challengers Bengaluru last week, Kohli gave an insight into his mind when asked about giving up India captaincy in T20s and Tests. His detailed conversation with the host also gave a sneek peak into what may have been on his mind before Monday’s announcement.
“At one point, it (attention) did become tough for me because there was just too much happening in my career. I was captaining India for a period of 7-8 years. I captained RCB for nine years. There were expectations on me from a batting perspective every game that I played,” said Kohli on ‘RCB Bold Diaries’ podcast.
“I didn’t have this sense that the attention was off me. If it wasn’t captaincy, it would be batting. I was exposed to it 24×7. It did get very tough on me, and it did get too much in the end.”
Known to give his all every time he steps on the field, Kohli has realised over time that the game is just a part of his life.
With that mindset, he stepped down from captaincy, and even took a one month break in 2022. More recently, he moved to the UK to be away from the constant glare on his every move.
“I stepped down (from captaincy) because I felt like if I’ve decided I want to be in this place, I need to be happy.
“I need to have a space in my life where I can just come and play my cricket without being judged, without being looked at as what are you going to do this season and what’s going to happen now,” Kohli said in that podcast.
Even when is not in the best of forms, Kohli remains the biggest crowd puller in the game. He single-handedly lifted Test cricket out of doldrums.
He drew close to 15,000 fans to an otherwise neglected Ranji Trophy game that was witnessed in January this year. His 15-ball stay was enough to pull in the crowds for the majority of the game.
Kohli loved Test cricket but what the brought out the best in him was ODIs. With the next World Cup a couple of years away, his fans and the cricketing world would be hoping that he carries on at least till then.
In the RCB podcast, Kohli also talked about when exactly a player would feel “done” in his book.
“What happens when you’re young is you feel like, if I have scored X amount of runs by the time I’m this age or whatever, things will ease out. It never happens like that. And that is the marker actually.
“When you stop feeling that nervousness or that anticipation of how things are going to unfold is when people say that you’re done,” he explained.
He also spoke about training his mind to keep him going in a long career.
“I’ve tried this on a few occasions where I’ve been all over the place and then I would decide, you know what? I’ve scored these many runs and these many hundreds and I’m going to walk out thinking that – but it makes no difference,” he said.
“I’ve always told youngsters as well, it doesn’t matter whether I’ve played 130 Test matches or 300 ODIs. If you’ve played two and your mindset is better than mine on the day, you will perform better than me on the day,” he added.
