Virat Kohli has announced his retirement from Test cricket, bringing the curtain down on a career spanning 14 years. He featured in 123 Tests – 68 of them as captain – and amassed 9,230 runs at an average of 46.85.

“It’s been 14 years since I first wore the baggy blue in Test cricket. Honestly, I never imagined the journey this format would take me on. It’s tested me, shaped me, and taught me lessons I’ll carry for life,” Kohli announced on social media.

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“There’s something deeply personal about playing in whites. The quiet grind, the long days, the small moments that no one sees but that stay with you forever.

“As I step away from this format, it’s not easy — but it feels right.

“I’ve given it everything I had, and it’s given me back so much more than I could’ve hoped for. I’m walking away with a heart full of gratitude – for the game, for the people I shared the field with, and for every single person who made me feel seen along the way.

”I’ll always look back at my Test career with a smile,” he concluded in the statement issued on Monday.

As reported by The Statesman on Saturday, the 36-year-old had already expressed his desire to retire from Test cricket to the BCCI, and has been having such discussions with the top brass for quite some time.

Kohli’s decision to retire from the longest format comes less than a week after Rohit Sharma gave up the format ahead of India’s crucial tour to England for a five-Test series, starting June 20.

Kohli, who retired from T20Is after helping India lift the 2024 T20 World Cup, his statement on Monday mentioned only Tests, which means, like Rohit, he will continue playing ODIs.

Kohli’s form in Tests has witnessed a sharp decline over the past five years, during which he could manage only 1,990 runs in 37 Tests with only three centuries. In the Border-Gavaskar series that India lost for the first time in a decade, Kohli’s form blew hot and cold. Barring an unbeaten century in the opening Test at Perth, Kohli failed to find the rhythm and continued to succumb to balls outside the off-stick on consecutive instances. Eventually, he managed only 190 runs across five appearances.

Despite that, it has been learnt that the selectors wanted him to continue for the England series, as the team management and selectors felt that his experience would be crucial in the conditions, where India will be playing under a new captain. With Shubman Gill emerging as the frontrunner to take over the reins of the side, it appears that the selectors will now have to pick a new No.3 for the side.

Apart from Rohit and Kohli, Ravichandran Ashwin had also retired from international cricket late last year. The absence of the trio will mean more responsibility on the shoulders of KL Rahul, Ravindra Jadeja, and Jasprit Bumrah as the team undergoes a crucial phase of transition.

It was under Kohli’s leadership that India reached the first World Test Championship (WTC) final before going down to New Zealand. Under Rohit, too, India reached a second consecutive WTC final but went down to Australia.

Both Kohli and Rohit were included in the Grade A+ category in the recent BCCI annual contracts, which is usually meant for players who play all three international formats.

Kohli, who made his Test debut during India’s tour of the West Indies in mid-2011, had a quiet start to his career, but gained the limelight four years later during India’s tour of Australia in 2014-15, when he came up with twin centuries in Adelaide, and followed it up with centuries in Melbourne and Sydney to aggregate 692 runs for the series at an average of 86.50.

His performances in the series earned him the title ‘King Kohli’ on Australian soil, and that particular series was memorable for his coronation as India’s new Test skipper, following MS Dhoni’s retirement after the third Test in Melbourne.

Under his leadership, India won 40 of the 68 games, losing just 17. The 40 wins made Kohli India’s most successful Test captain of all time. He was followed by Dhoni with 27 from 60 and Sourav Ganguly with 21 from 49 as India’s most successful Test skippers. In the overall list of most successful Test captains, Kohli stood at fourth after Graeme Smith (53 from 109), Ricky Ponting (48 from 77), and Steve Waugh (41 from 57).