Cricket

I would have persuaded Virat Kohli to retire after England Test series: Ex-Indian selector

Former India chief selector Dilip Vengsarkar says Virat Kohli should’ve delayed his Test retirement until after the England series. He believes Kohli’s experience was vital and would’ve persuaded him to bid farewell after the marquee tour.

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I would have persuaded Virat Kohli to retire after England Test series: Ex-Indian selector

Former Indian cricketer and ex-chief selector Dilip Vengsarkar has stated that the current national selection team, led by Ajit Agarkar, should’ve spoken with the Indian talismanic batter Virat Kohli to delay his retirement from Test cricket until the conclusion of the five-match Test series in England.

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Notably, Kohli and Rohit Sharma decided to retire from the longest format of the game just days before the squad selection for the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy. The selection committee was quick to bring in Shubman Gill as the new Test captain.

"If I were the Indian chief selector, I would have persuaded Virat to bid goodbye to Test cricket after playing the England series. We needed his class and experience in this series," Vengsarkar told The Times of India.

Notably, Gill led the Indian team to a series-levelling scoreline of 2-2, courtesy of spirited performance from Mohammed Siraj on the fifth and final day of the Oval Test to hand India a six-run narrow win and level the series 2-2.

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Kohli, who was recently part of a charity event for former Indian all-rounder Yuvraj Singh's foundation, YouWeCan, stated the reason behind his decision to retire from the longest format of the game.

"I just coloured my beard two days ago. You know it's time when you are colouring your beard every four days,” Kohli said.

Speaking about Kohli’s Test record, he has accumulated 9230 runs from 210 Tests at an average of 46.85, emerging as the fourth-leading run-scorer among Indian batters behind Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid and Sunil Gavaskar.

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Kohli would be next seen in action in the three-match ODI series against Australia Down Under in October and November this year. Moreover, he will also be a part of the home series against South Africa later this year.

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