Kohli Had No Regrets About Test Retirement, Says Ravi Shastri

India’s former head coach, Ravi Shastri, has revealed details of the conversation he had with Virat Kohli ahead of the latter’s retirement from Test cricket. Though he regrets Kohli’s decision as a fan, Shastri said he understood why the timing was right after their personal discussion.

Shastri was in charge of the Indian cricket team for most of Kohli’s captaincy tenure. Speaking on The ICC Review, Shastri said Kohli has no regrets about retiring from Test cricket and will continue to make significant contributions in ODIs and franchise cricket.

The partnership between Shastri and Kohli was one of the best in Test history. Shastri confirmed that Kohli had reached out to him before making the retirement announcement.
“I did speak to him about it [his announcement], I think a week before, and his mind was very clear that he’d given everything,” Shastri said on The ICC Review.

“There were no regrets. There were one or two questions I asked — and that’s a personal conversation — but he mentioned very clearly there were no doubts in his mind, which made me think, ‘Yes, the time is right.’ The mind had told the body that it’s time to go.”

“He doesn’t have regrets. Ideally, everyone might want him to carry on. But then, he looks at the bigger picture. He feels he can contribute massively in the one-day game. There’s a lot of franchise cricket left for him in his life. The reason I think he will not have regrets is because he gave everything he had.”

Kohli ended his Test career as India’s most successful captain in the format, including a historic series win in Australia. He also led the team to back-to-back series wins in the West Indies and ended a 22-year drought with a series win on Sri Lankan soil. As a batter, he was phenomenal, scoring 30 centuries in 123 Tests over a 14-year career.

Shastri believes that maintaining Kohli’s high level of intensity across formats can be draining — a key reason for his decision to step away from the longest format.
“Individually, as a bowler or as a batsman, a player does his job, and then you sit back,” Shastri said. “But when the team goes out, it’s as if he has to take all the wickets, he has to take all the catches, he has to make all the decisions on the field.

“That much involvement — I would think there’s going to be burnout somewhere if he doesn’t take a rest, if he doesn’t compartmentalize how much he wants to play across formats. There is bound to be burnout. Well, it’s happened now and he’s pulled out of Test cricket. Unfortunate, because I still think he could have played two more years — but he’s the boss. If his mind tells him that it’s enough, then it’s enough.”