Kohli set to retire from Tests

India's star batter Virat Kohli informed the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) about his desire to quit Test cricket ahead of the five-match series in England, starting on June 20 this year.

The 36-year-old has been in discussions with BCCI officials for the past month regarding his decision to step down from the longest format of the game.

If he follows through with the decision, it will mark the end of his distinguished 14-year career in Test cricket.

However, several media reports claimed that Kohli is expected to be part of the squad as the team management eyes to utilise his experience in all important England series under a new captain since Rohit Sharma has also retired from red-ball cricket.

Kohli has played 123 Tests, scoring 9,230 runs at an average of 46.85, including 68 matches as captain. However, his form in Tests has dipped recently.

It hasn't been a particularly fruitful time in the format for Kohli of late. When he scored 100 not out in the Perth Test in November 2024, it was his first century in Tests since July 2023 (against West Indies in Port of Spain), and his average, 55.10 at its peak after he scored his career best of 254 not out vs South Africa in Pune in 2019, has been 32.56 over the last 24 months.

Despite that, it's understood that the team management and selectors expect his experience to be crucial on the tour, where India will also be playing under a new captain - Shubman Gill is the frontrunner to take over from Rohit Sharma following his retirement from Test cricket earlier this week.

Along with Sharma, Kohli is among top players in the A+ category of BCCI contracts, which are typically reserved for players who participate in all formats.

Before Rohit replaced Kohli as India's Test captain, India had won 40 of the 68 games in which Kohli led, losing just 17. The 40 wins makes Kohli India's most successful Test captain of all time — MS Dhoni with 27 from 60 and Sourav Ganguly with 21 from 49 rank below him - and also places him at No. 4 on the overall list of captains with the most Test wins, behind Graeme Smith (53 from 109), Ricky Ponting (48 from 77) and Steve Waugh (41 from 57).

It was in England that Kohli had recorded one of his greatest highs as a Test batter, on the 2018 tour. He was the top run-getter across the two sides in the five Tests, aggregating 583 at an average of 59.30 with two centuries

During his golden run, he averaged 75.93 in 2016, 75.64 in 2017, 55.08 in 2018, and 68.00 in 2019. During that period between 2016 and 2018, Kohli scored 3596 runs in 35 Tests at an average of 66.59, with 14 hundreds and eight fifties in 58 innings.

Earlier in 2024, both Kohli and Sharma retired from T20 Internationals after India's World Cup victory.

The five-match Test series between England and India is set to begin at Headingley, Leeds, on June 20. The remaining matches are scheduled to take place at Edgbaston, Lord's, Old Trafford, and The Oval.