Former India coach Ravi Shastri said he’s unhappy with how Virat Kohli’s Test career ended. He believes Kohli deserved a better farewell and should have been made Test captain again after the 2024-25 Border-Gavaskar Trophy.
Ravi Shastri Wanted Virat Kohli Back As Test Captain After Australia Series
Virat Kohli had a tough time with the bat in the Test series against Australia, where India lost 1–3. He announced his retirement from Test cricket last month, just before the new World Test Championship (2025–27) starts on June 20.
Ravi Shastri told Sony Sports he was disappointed with Kohli’s retirement and felt there was poor communication. He said he would have made Kohli captain again after the Australia series.
“It’s when you go, that’s when people will realise how big a player he was. I feel sad that he is gone, the way he’s gone. I think it could have been handled better. There should have been more communication. If I had anything to do with it, I would have made him captain straight away after Australia,” Shastri said.
“𝘐 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭 𝘴𝘢𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘨𝘰𝘯𝘦, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘩𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘨𝘰𝘯𝘦…” – Ravi Shastri
Kohli retired from Tests a week after Rohit Sharma. Shubman Gill was named captain and will lead in the five-Test series against England.
Ravi Shastri called Kohli a great player and praised his passion and impact on Test cricket.
“Virat has announced his retirement from Test matches, which is sad, you know, because he’s a great player. A great player. It’s only when you go that people truly realise how big a player you were,” Shastri said.
“Stats don’t do justice – it’s about the way he carried himself, especially as an ambassador for Test match cricket, particularly overseas. The way he played at Lord’s, and how his team turned things around – it was unreal. And I’m glad I was a part of it.”
Virat Kohli ended his Test career as India’s most successful captain with 40 wins in 68 matches. He led India to the top of the Test rankings, a series win in Australia (2018–19), and a 2-1 lead in England (2021).
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He scored 9,230 runs in 123 Tests, with 30 centuries, making him India’s fourth-highest run-scorer. But his form dipped in the later years, with only three centuries in his last 39 matches. India’s upcoming tour of England will be their first without Kohli in the Test squad since 2011.
India’s Test squad for England series:
Shubman Gill (c), Rishabh Pant (vc), Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Sai Sudharsan, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Karun Nair, Nitish Reddy, Ravindra Jadeja, Dhruv Jurel, Washington Sundar, Shardul Thakur, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna, Akash Deep, Arshdeep Singh, Kuldeep Yadav.
England squad for first Test vs India:
Shoaib Bashir, Jacob Bethell, Harry Brook, Brydon Carse, Sam Cook, Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Jamie Overton, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Jamie Smith (wk), Ben Stokes (capt), Josh Tongue, Chris Woakes.
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