Virat Kohli accidentally reveals why he retired from Test cricket during RCB's IPL Qualifier 1, fans agree: 'Fair call'
What a sight Virat Kohli was last night in Mullanpur. Always right up in the face of the opposition and celebration every Punjab Kings wicket like it was his. But while vintage Kohli was a delight to see, it was also upsetting. Upsetting because it won't ever happen in Test cricket. Kohli has just one match left before he disappears for at least four months. His retirement from Test cricket means we would next see him on the cricket ground on October 19, when India travel to Australia for a limited-overs tour, comprising three ODIs and five T20Is.
It's been 18 days, but the fact that Kohli will no longer play Tests for India ever again is still tough to digest. But then again, if one carefully followed last night's IPL match between the Royal Challengers Bengaluru and Punjab Kings, the reason was evident. That dreaded ball outside off-stump. As it turned out, in early April, Kohli reached out to tell BCCI and its chairman of selectors Ajit Agarkar, that he wants to retire from Test cricket. And although the decision was heavily debated, at 36, there was no reason for India's most successful Test captain to take that step.
Or was there?
Well, as tough a pill as it may be to swallow, Kohli accidentally revealed the reason behind his decision. Kohli scored a brisk 12 – a boundary off the first ball to open his account – he was out edging a ball outside off stump from Josh Hazlewood to Josh Inglis. Fans were upset to see that Kohli, who's been plagued by this issue repeatedly in Test cricket, fell to it in white-ball formats too. Below are some of the reactions.
Kohli has been out to balls outside off stump more than 20 times in Test cricket, including all eight of his dismissals in Australia. In the nine innings he batted in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, Kohli remained unbeaten in the second essay of the Perth Test on 100 not out but edged to either slips or wicketkeeper Alex Carey on the remaining instances. Honestly, this was the most helpless one saw Kohli. In what turned out to be his last dismissal in Test cricket, Kohli was seen smashing the bat on his pads when he edged Scott Boland to Steve Smith at second slip.
If the report is true, then it was at this moment that Kohli made up his mind to retire. He said, 'I am done' after India surrendered to Australia 1-3, but not many took it seriously, only to realise a few months later that Kohli indeed meant it. Kohli's bottom hand, which was once his biggest strength, with time, became his weakness, as his inability to find a cure to playing deliveries outside off stump. He curbed it brilliantly when India toured England in 2018 and he was captain, but with age and slowing reflexes, certain things tend to remain out of control despite the best efforts. With Sourav Ganguly, it was the short ball. With Joe Root, it's the incoming swinging deliveries. With Dhoni, it's some top-quality spin. And with Kohli, this was it.
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