Former England Captain Michael Atherton said he enjoyed watching Virata Kohli’s “every day” of his test career. On Monday, May 12, Kohli announced his retirement from the test cricket, ending his career, which lasted almost 14 years, from 2011 to 2025.
Kohli’s decision came less than a week later Rohit Sharma also said goodbye to the longest format games. His retirement is preceded by the upcoming series of tests of five matches against England in India, which begins 20 June in Headingley, Leeds.
Atherton appreciated Kohli to play with passion and intensity and added that it was difficult to remove his eyes.
“You couldn’t take your eyes out of Kohl, that’s what I always felt like I was watching it. It seemed to me that in his retirement statement, he referred to the challenges he gave. I loved him every day of his 123 tests.
“Regenerate and transform”
Atherton, who scored 7,728 runs in 115 test matches, also noted that in the footsteps of legends like Virat Kohli and Sachin Tendulkar – both of which dominated position 4 for India – will be a daunting task. He added that another dough in a row would face huge pressure to fill these shoes and follow their heritage.
“It is as if at the beginning of the new test of the World Test Championship, this is the moment India begins to regenerate and transform his team. We are not sure who will take his place in 4th place, and they regret the person who has to follow because you were about 15 years old and before it was Sachin Tendulkar,” Atherton.
As for Kohli, he left the test cricket as the fourth highest Indian running shooter and accumulated 9,230 runs on average 46.85, including 30 centuries and 31 half -life. Last year he resigned from the T20 International after the World Cup T20 and now remains active only in one -day international (ODI) for India.
Published:
Sabyasachi Chowdhury
Published on:
May 15, 2025
Tune
