Former Indian Test captains Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli surprised everyone by retiring from Test cricket before the England tour. Fans know that both did not want to retire from this format yet. Both Rohit and Virat were preparing for the England tour. Former Indian cricketer Karsan Ghavri shared many important points about this.
During IPL 2025, two of India’s biggest batsmen, Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma, announced their retirement from Test cricket. Rohit retired first and shared the news through his Instagram story. Two days later, Kohli wrote to the BCCI about his retirement from Tests. Within 48 hours, he made it official through an Instagram post.
Kohli and Rohit Forced to Retire?
Many reports came out in the last 15–20 days. Did Rohit and Kohli really want to retire, or were they forced to? Kohli returned to play Ranji Trophy for Delhi and told his coach he wanted to score 4–5 centuries in England. Rohit had told Michael Clarke during the IPL break that he was looking forward to the England tour.
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Indian cricket legend Karsan Ghavri spoke about this. Ghavri, a former left-arm pacer who opened bowling with Kapil Dev in the 1970s, said that while Kohli and Rohit wanted to continue playing Test cricket, the “politics” of the BCCI and the leadership of selection panel chairman Ajit Agarkar forced them to retire.
On the Vicky Lalwani show, Ghavri said, “Kohli could have continued playing for India for the next few years. But some people forced him to retire. Unfortunately, when he retired, BCCI did not give him a proper farewell. A great player like him, who served Indian cricket and the fans so well, deserved a glorious farewell.”