Ravi Shastri reveals speaking to Virat Kohli before his Test retirement announcement

Multiple significant retirement announcements have made sure that it marks an end of an era before India kicks off the 2025-27 WTC Cycle. The washout at home against New Zealand and a 1-3 defeat in the Border Gavaskar Trophy has fared remarkably hard for the Indian Test setup. When it happened, it only seemed like a nasty blot on the Indian Test records. However, following a cool-off period, the true repercussions have emerged. In a matter of a week, India saw skipper Rohit Sharma and the former captain Virat Kohli hang their boots. Kohli's decision has caused a lot of contention, with the majority opining that it's too soon for the champion to bid adieu. Now, Ravi Shastri has come forward, revealing that Kohli approached him before the Test retirement.

Ravi Shastri opens up about the elements that shaped up the Test retirement decision of Virat Kohli

Virat Kohli and Ravi Shastri brought the golden era of India in the whites. Virat Kohli, with 68 matches as the Test captain, is still etched as the skipper with the most matches for India in red-ball cricket. Moreover, the 40 wins in those 68 matches still present Kohli as the most successful captain for India in the format. Kohli's unmatched run as India's Test captain was backed by Ravi Shastri as the head coach. Together, the captain-coach duo of Kohli and Shastri is still regarded as arguably the best that India had in the format. Not only with the victories, Kohli brought about a transition in the attitude of the team. The team under Kohli and Shastri was a fierce one, cornering the likes of Australia and England in their backyard.

From their time together, it's easy to notice that Virat Kohli and Ravi Shastri have maintained a tight-knit bond. Now, after Kohli has announced his Test retirement, Ravi Shastri opened up about talking to his captain before the announcement. In an interaction for ICC, Shastri explained that Kohli reached out to him before he cemented the call. While Shastri himself iterated that Kohli could have played longer, the former head coach said that he understood where Kohli was coming from.

"I did speak to him about it, I think a week before that [his announcement] and his mind was very clear that he'd given us everything," Shastri told. "There were no regrets. There were one or two questions I asked, and that's a personal conversation which, you know, he mentioned very clearly, there were no doubts in his mind, which made me think, 'Yes, the time is right'. The mind has told his body that it's time to go."

The conclusive phase of the last WTC Cycle fared exceptionally hard on the Indian seniors. Both Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli suffered significantly with the bat, picking up the most scrutiny for the team's subsequent failure. The five-match Test series down under saw Kohli's average slipping down from the 50.00 mark. While Kohli and Rohit both played the Ranji Trophy upon their return, signalling their intent to fall back into rhythm for the next WTC Cycle, their retirements arrived earlier. Now, 9,230 runs in 123 matches with an average of 46.50 is what the stats would read as Kohli's Test career.

With the kind of Test career that Virat Kohli had, numbers would never define his legacy. The only player so far who threatened to overtake Sachin Tendulkar in the record books eventually ended his career 770 short of 10,000 runs. However, when it came to the retirement decision, Shastri explained that Kohli was done in his mind. His mind, probably overworked with the asks out of a player of Kohli's calibre, sent a signal to his body about the conclusion. At 36, Kohli is still the fittest player in the Indian setup. However, the former head coach explained that fitness doesn't matter much when it's the mind that burns out.

"Virat surprised me because I thought he had at least two-three years of Test match cricket left in him," he said. "But then, when you're mentally fried and overcooked, that's what tells your body. You might be physically the fittest guy in the business. You might be fitter than half the guys in your team, but mentally you're well done, as they say, then it sends a message to the body. You know, that's it," Shastri added.