Virat Kohli’s stunning decision to inform the national selectors to retire from Test cricket has created huge ripples in the cricketing world.
In what has been an eventful week in Indian cricket with ’s Test retirement and the 2025’s suspension due to the India-Pakistan conflicts, Kohli’s intention to retire ahead of a five-match tour to England has put the BCCI in a fix, as
learnt that Kohli has been contemplating his Test future since his poor run in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy series in Australia and has been urged to reconsider his decision by BCCI’s top brass. “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 this newspaper.
If Kohli does end up sticking to his decision to call it quits from the longest format, he will be missing out on a target that he had publicly opened up about, that of achieving 10,000 runs in Test cricket.
Kohli’s aggregates read 9230 runs in 123 Tests for India, averaging 46.85.
Only seven batters have amassed 10,000 runs in both ODIs and Tests, and Kohli was potentially seen as the next entrant into the illustrious list.
Speaking on Aaj Tak’s ‘Seedhi Baat’ in a 2013 interview, Kohli said that he wasn’t a milestone-driven person but admitted 10,000 runs in the longest format was a goal that he sought to achieve.
“I don’t keep track of records at all. When I score a century in a match, I find out afterwards that it was the quickest to 10 centuries or something like that. So I only get to know about it after the match. Before the match, my focus is not on things like, ‘I have 5 innings left, and if I score 3 more centuries, I’ll set a record.’ I don’t think that way. My aim is to score 10,000 runs in Test cricket, and that’s something I really want to achieve,” Kohli said in the interview.
Despite his diminishing Test returns in the last five years, averaging below 35, Kohli stands as India’s fourth-highest run-getter in the format behind stalwarts (15,921), (13,288) and Sunil Gavaskar (10,122).
Among active batters, Kohli stands fourth on the Test charts behind other ‘Fab 4’ members in Joe Root (12972), (10271) and (9276).
