12-05-2025
Vengsarkar surprised at ‘match-winner' Kohli's decision to retire
Mumbai: Former India captain and chief selector, Dilip Vengsarkar, expressed surprise at Virat Kohli's decision to retire ahead of the England Test series.
'Actually, I am surprised by the timing of the retirement, I thought both Virat and Rohit would play the England series, and then they would take a call, but before the England series is a bit surprising for me,' said Vengsarkar.
India will miss the experience of Kohli in batting, especially after Rohit Sharma also called it a day. It leaves a very inexperienced middle-order for the England tour.
For Vengsarkar, the most important quality of Kohli was how he took the onus on himself to go all the way and finish the game. It is a quality which he had first spotted in him as a youngster which convinced him of his potential.
Even though the former India captain had been following the progress of Kohli from his under-16 days, the Delhi batter's innings against New Zealand Emerging Players at Brisbane in the 2008 Emerging Players Tournament convinced him he was ready for international cricket.
In that game played on July 18, Kohli, a middle-order batter, was asked to open the innings. He went out and cracked an unbeaten 120 to help India chase NZE's total of 248 for six for the loss of just three wickets.
'After the 2008 U-19 World Cup victory, we picked him for the Emerging Players Tournament in Australia where we selected future prospects, not those who are discarded for the Test team. There I watched him score a hundred against a New Zealand side, which had around seven Test cricketers in their team, coached by Glenn Turner,' said Vengsarkar.
'Kohli was asked to open the innings and we were chasing a stiff target, and he scored 120 not out. What I admired about him was that even after scoring a hundred, he made sure that his team won the game. I always gave preference to batsmen who won matches and not just scored hundreds and look for statistics. Playing for the team, winning matches was very important for me. I knew, he should be groomed for the highest level.
'And, that is what Virat has done for the Indian team throughout his career, won matches for the team. He never chucked his wicket away after getting a hundred, he went on grinding the opposition,' said Vengsarkar.
