Virat Kohli, India’s most successful Test captain, has said goodbye to the whites, capping a red-ball career that will live on in the memories of future generations.
With a remarkable legacy based on 9230 runs, 123 Test matches, and a vision that turned India into a worldwide superpower in the longest format, the 36-year-old modern-day maestro, who revolutionized Indian cricket’s approach to Test matches, signed off on Monday.
From his 2011 debut as a youthful, aggressive batter to his current status as the face of India’s unwavering confidence in Test cricket, Kohli’s career has been one of unrelenting greatness.
Indian Test cricket’s culture has altered under Kohli’s direction. In 68 games as captain, he won 40, lost just 17, and drew 11; this was the highest victory percentage of any Indian captain.
His crowning moment came in 2018-19, when he led India to their first-ever Test series win in Australia, breaking a 71-year-old jinx. Under Kohli, India became an indomitable force at home and a fiercely competitive side overseas. From 2016 to 2021, India stayed at the No.1 spot in ICC Test rankings, and he also captained them to the final of the inaugural World Test Championship in 2021.
Kohli leaves Test cricket as India’s fourth-highest run-scorer, behind legends Tendulkar, Dravid, and Gavaskar. His 30 Test centuries, including seven double tons, are a testament to his hunger and skill. He holds the record for most double centuries by an Indian, and the highest individual score by an Indian captain — 254 against South Africa* in Pune (2019).
He appropriately faced his favorite opponents, Australia, in the 2024–2025 Border-Gavaskar Trophy, when he scored a tough century. In addition to surpassing Sachin Tendulkar as the only Indian to reach seven Test hundreds in Australia, he also holds the remarkable record of four hundreds in a single overseas series, which he achieved during the historic 2014–15 Australia tour.
Kohli tied Ricky Ponting’s world record by leading India to nine straight Test series victories between 2015 and 2017. He holds the Indian record for the most century as Test captain (20) and is the only Test captain to have seven double hundreds.
Kohli’s other Test records include the most runs of any Indian captain (5864, average of 54.80) as captain and the second-highest runs of any Indian (2617, across 47 Tests) in the World Test Championship.
The maximum number of double hundreds in Test matches by an Indian batter is seven, with 937 in 2018 being the highest ICC Test rating points. 2012, 2015, 2016, 2018, and 2023 saw the highest number of Test runs scored by an Indian in a single calendar year.
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Virat Kohli declares his retirement from Test cricket, marking the end of an era