Virat Kohli retirement: How Indian cricket team’s landscape changed in six months

Former Indian cricket team captain Virat Kohli put out an emotional statement on social media to announce his retirement from Test cricket. The 36-year-old becomes the second big name after Rohit Sharma to call time on their Test career inside a week. The announcement came after speculations about the veteran duo’s future post their bad run of form with the bat in the longest format. 

The plan to phase out the senior members began after India lost 3-0 to New Zealand at home. This was not only India’s first home loss in over a dozen years but also their first whitewash loss in nearly 24 years. Team India was still within a shout of making it to the WTC finals for a third successive time. 

One BCCI official, while speaking to PTI in November 2024, had stated that there would be changes if India failed to make it to the WTC finals. The BCCI source had said that ‘stock will be taken’ after the home loss to New Zealand late last year. In the same chat with PTI that the ‘super seniors’, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, R Ashwin, and Ravindra Jadeja were under the pump. 

The source had given an ominous sign and said, “If India doesn’t qualify for the WTC final in England, one can be rest assured that all four super seniors won’t be on that flight to the UK for the ensuing five-match Test series. In any case, all four have likely played their final Test at home together”

End of an era for India’s top stars

Virat Kohli’s retirement could be considered a proper end of an era that the Indian cricket team witnessed. One can take their mind back to 2012 when Rahul Dravid retired after a disastrous tour of Australia, and soon VVS Laxman called time on his career later that year. In 2013, Sachin Tendulkar was the last piece of the 'Fab Four' to call it quits. 

New Zealand’s tour of India in 2024 showed the cracks of an ageing Indian side begin to show. Virat Kohli scored just 93 runs from six innings out of which 70 came in a single innings in Bengaluru. Rohit Sharma too scored just 91 runs which included a fifty in the first Test match against the Kiwis. 

India’s bowling, which had been strongly led by Ashwin and Jadeja over the last decade, saw a sharp decline. Ashwin picked just nine wickets with a best of 3/63 while Washington Sundar and Ravindra Jadeja picked 16 wickets each. Jadeja’s show has let him stay execution for now, but with the star player set to turn 37 in December, the axe on his Test career may not be far off. 

The final straw came in Australia, where India’s senior players failed to perform. Virat Kohli began the series with what turned out to be his final Test ton. After his fleeting glimpse of previous self in Perth, an old chink resurfaced as Kohli’s problems outside the off-stump was exposed. 

Rohit Sharma had a horrendous tour scoring just 31 runs from five innings as India lost the series 3-1. With this the dream of making it to the WTC final was done and dusted. Team India also lost their decade long grip over the Border Gavaskar Trophy as questions began to be asked. Ashwin, called it quits after the Brisbane Test having just played the previous game in Adelaide.

Indian cricket embarks on a new journey, just like 2013 after Tendulkar’s retirement the path seems uncertain. BCCI though has managed to do what it intended and the call was made keep in mind India’s Test future ahead. Only Ravindra Jadeja remains from the super senior batch ahead of the England tour. While there is certain amount of emptiness, one must laud the Board’s vision in what could be the next page in Indian cricket’s glorious chapter.