logo
'Nothing wrong with returning': Madan Lal urges 'passionate' Virat Kohli to make U-turn on Test retirement

'Nothing wrong with returning': Madan Lal urges 'passionate' Virat Kohli to make U-turn on Test retirement

Time of India16-07-2025
Virat Kohli of India fields during day three of the Fifth Men's Test Match in the series between Australia and India at Sydney Cricket Ground in January, 2025 in Australia (Photo by)
A day after India's narrow loss to England in the third Test at Lord's, former India all-rounder and 1983 World Cup winner Madan Lal made an emotional appeal to
Virat Kohli
, asking him to return to Test cricket.
Kohli had announced his retirement from the format in May, ending a remarkable red-ball career with 9230 runs in 123 matches, averaging 46.85 with 30 centuries. He also holds the record for the most Test double hundreds by an Indian (7) and is India's fourth-highest century-maker in the format.
'
Virat Kohli's passion for Indian cricket was unmatched. It's my wish that he should come back to Test cricket after retirement. There's nothing wrong with returning. If not in this series, he should make a comeback in the next,
'
Madan Lal said.
Shubman Gill blames 'judgement error' as Rishabh Pant run-out haunts India in Lord's heartbreak
Kohli also finished as India's most successful Test captain in terms of matches won and ranks fourth overall behind Graeme Smith, Ricky Ponting, and Steve Waugh.
India had bounced back after losing the first Test at Leeds with a dominant showing in the second Test. In the 3rd Test, their bowlers dismissed England for 387 & 192. Washington Sundar stood out with four wickets in the second innings.
Poll
Should Virat Kohli return to Test cricket?
Yes, he should come back.
No, it's time for new players.
However, in the third Test at Lord's, England's attack led by Jofra Archer and Ben Stokes triggered a late collapse. Despite a gritty 61* from Ravindra Jadeja, India were bowled out for 170 while chasing 193, falling short by 22 runs. With the fourth Test scheduled to commence on Julyb23, the Indian contingent will look to regroup and put their best foot forward when they take to the pitch at Old Trafford Cricket Ground in Manchester.
Catch Rani Rampal's inspiring story on Game On, Episode 4. Watch Here!
Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

Oval Test: Nice guy Joe Root loses his cool after verbal volley with Prasidh Krishna
Oval Test: Nice guy Joe Root loses his cool after verbal volley with Prasidh Krishna

India Today

time4 minutes ago

  • India Today

Oval Test: Nice guy Joe Root loses his cool after verbal volley with Prasidh Krishna

It was a sight rarely witnessed in cricket. Joe Root lost his cool and became involved in a heated on-field exchange with India pacer Prasidh Krishna as tempers flared on Day 2 of the Oval Test. Known as one of the nicest cricketers in the game, Root did not hold back when Prasidh had a go at him as early as the first over he faced on Friday, 1 many pointed out on social media, Root was uncharacteristically unwilling to let it go, continuing to chirp back at Prasidh, who riled the England batting star with a series of verbal volleys in the 24th over of the England innings. Umpire Kumar Dharmasena intervened in time to separate the two players, as the exchange threatened to turn ugly. ENG vs IND 5th Test Day 2 UpdatesMohammed Siraj also became involved, having a word with Root before both sides calmed things down. Even at the end of the over, Root was seen speaking to the umpire-perhaps expressing his displeasure at the incident. In Prasidh's next over, the Indian pacer attempted to needle Root again, but this time the England batter did not spat between Prasidh krishna and joe root.#INDvsENGTest U' (@toxifyy18) August 1, 2025The Indian bowlers resorted to verbal aggression after being subjected to a leather hunt by England openers Zak Crawley and Ben Duckett in the morning session on Day Deep was the first to ignite tensions, giving Ben Duckett a send-off after dismissing him in the first session. Akash put an arm around Duckett and had a word as the England opener was making his way back to the dressing room-an action that appeared to irritate did not respond and simply pulled away, heading towards the pavilion. Several observers criticised Akash's actions as unnecessarily aggressive, particularly given that he had been taken to the cleaners by Duckett and Crawley earlier in the session.'DEER CAUGHT IN THE HEADLIGHTS'England scored 109 runs in just 16 overs in the opening session, hitting 21 boundaries. Duckett disrupted the rhythm of the Indian bowlers by batting outside the crease and playing reverse scoops and sweeps. He struck 43 off just 38 balls, including five boundaries and two sixes. He eventually fell in the 13th over, attempting another reverse openers added 92 runs in only 73 balls, falling just eight runs short of a record century sorely missed the experience of Jasprit Bumrah on a helpful pitch, as England scored at nearly seven runs per over in the morning. The senior pacer, who was not selected for the fifth Test, was officially released from the squad on Friday. Siraj, Akash, and Prasidh appeared rattled as Duckett and Crawley dismantled their plans with an aggressive and unrelenting Prasidh dismissed Crawley in the second session after the England opener had made 64 off 57 balls, hitting 14 India fast bowler Varun Aaron praised the England openers for demoralising the Indian attack during the morning onslaught."It's really tough out there for bowlers because England came at them with a complete shock-and-awe approach. The Indian bowlers were caught like deer in the headlights-they simply didn't see it coming. On a wicket like this, as a bowling unit, you expect to make two or three early breakthroughs. But the moment Akash Deep came around the wicket to Duckett and the ball started seaming, Duckett adopted a completely unorthodox only so much a bowler can do-you try to hit the right areas. But as a batting unit, England succeeded by playing with guts, conviction, and clarity. Yes, they had some luck. But as they say, fortune always favours the brave."- Ends advertisement

‘It was right to honour that call': Why did Jasprit Bumrah miss The Oval Test between India and England? India's asst. coach explains
‘It was right to honour that call': Why did Jasprit Bumrah miss The Oval Test between India and England? India's asst. coach explains

Indian Express

time6 minutes ago

  • Indian Express

‘It was right to honour that call': Why did Jasprit Bumrah miss The Oval Test between India and England? India's asst. coach explains

There has been discussions around Jasprit Bumrah's availability before each of the five matches of the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy between India and England but the most significant of those was before the ongoing final Test at The Oval in London. On what has been the most bowler-friendly series so far, with evident seam and swing movement on offer, India had to stick to their pre-tour decision of playing Bumrah in only three of the five Tests, which meant they were without their most potent weapon for the decisive game. That India were missing Bumrah was more pronounced during the course of Day 2, where India's three seamers were taken to the cleaners early on by Ben Duckett and Zak Crawley, with England hurtling towards India's first inning total at fifth gear. India assistant coach Ryan ten Doeschate offered the team management's explanation after the end of Day 1's play. On Friday, the BCCI also confirmed that Bumrah was released from the squad. 'It's quite a complex issue around Bumrah. We obviously want to wheel him in, but we also want to respect where his body's at, and on the basis of that, we just felt that it wasn't worth including him in the squad,' ten Doeschate. said on Thursday. 'He has bowled a large number of overs, I know it doesn't always seem like that because he's only played three Tests and he only bowled in one innings in Manchester. But if you look at the loads, he's bowled a lot of overs, and like he did say coming into the tour, he was going to be available for three games, and we just felt it was right to honour that call.' The perceived criticism around Bumrah playing three out of the five matches in an important away series has been that he is picking and choosing the matches he wanted to play. Although, coming on the back of a away series in Australia where he toiled right through the summer Down Under before suffering a serious back issue in the final Test, it did seem spurious. Ten Doeschate also confirmed that which three Tests he played was upto the team management as well. 'I don't think picking and choosing is a fair comment to Bumrah,' the former Dutch allrounder said. 'He did say he was going to play three games, he left it up to us which three he played. We've tried to manage the situation, it's not ideal, I guess giving those guys attention, the guys who aren't playing particularly when you're carrying 18 is important. '… Make them know that you're making all the decisions in good faith, in the best interest of the team, and just on that, all the guys who haven't played, they've been fantastic, they've trained the house down, they're disappointed when they get left out. They don't let it show when they're around the group and that's very important to creating a good culture for the guys who are playing to perform.' Doeschate added that it made sense to play Bumrah in Manchester than keeping him for the final Test. 'Every time I've answered this question I've spoken about like putting the pieces of the puzzles together and guys were baffled when we didn't play him in the third Test,' he said. 'Our thinking was that the Oval, yes it's got bounce but it's normally a fairly good wicket for batting on, and we thought we'd roll the dice and if we'd won the toss we would have bowled. In hindsight you would have loved to have him here, but you would also have said if we come here 3-1 down that we didn't use him there, so it's trying to not guess but trying to look into the future and then see how we can manage him, and maybe England have got it spot on leaving the best bowling wicket for the last Test after he's played three,' Doeschate said. The Indian Express had reported earlier on Thursday that India were likely to leave out Bumrah, having decided to go with Karun Nair in place of all-rounder Shardul Thakur. Bumrah and Anshul Kamboj made way for Akash Deep and Prasidh Krishna, with Mohammed Siraj being the pace spearhead. Meanwhile, Dhruv Jurel replaced injured wicket-keeper Rishabh Pant. On the match eve, there was a point of view that Bumrah might play his fourth Test of the series in Oval despite the team management's workload considerations and the pre-decided plan to play him just three Tests. That was not to be. With the pitch having a layer of grass, left-arm wrist spinner Kuldeep once again failed to make the cut. And that is also the reason India bolstered their batting line-up.

U-19 Asian Boxing Championships: Suman Kumari wins, three others bow out
U-19 Asian Boxing Championships: Suman Kumari wins, three others bow out

News18

time12 minutes ago

  • News18

U-19 Asian Boxing Championships: Suman Kumari wins, three others bow out

Bangkok, Aug 1 (PTI) Suman Kumari gave India a winning start even as three other boxers were knocked out of the U19 Asian Boxing Championships here on Friday. Competing in the women's 48kg category, Suman outclassed Chinese Taipei's Meng-Sin Cheng to record a commanding and unanimous decision win in the morning session and advance to the next round. However, the momentum did not continue for the rest of the Indian contingent. In the men's 50kg division, Aakash Badhwar went down 1:4 in a hard-fought bout against Uzbekistan's Odilshoh Khalimov. Sarthi Saini (70kg) was unable to get past Haosheng Zhang of China, suffering a defeat in his opening bout. view comments First Published: August 01, 2025, 19:45 IST Disclaimer: Comments reflect users' views, not News18's. Please keep discussions respectful and constructive. Abusive, defamatory, or illegal comments will be removed. News18 may disable any comment at its discretion. By posting, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into a world of global content with local flavor? Download Daily8 app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store