The legend believes he's old: Virat Kohli reveals why he retired from Tests

It's been over a couple of months since Virat Kohli announced his Test retirement. However, the masses are still coming to terms with the fact that the modern-day legend would never don the precious whites again. The Test retirements of both Virat Kohli and the former captain, Rohit Sharma, came rather abruptly. The senior duo of India, and arguably two of the best to have played for the team, exited quietly, with nothing more than a post on social media. Virat Kohli wrote a lengthy caption, expressing his love and gratitude for the format, which he has termed his 'favorite' on several occasions. But whatever the reason, many speculations arose about what led to the significant decision.

"I just dyed my beard...": Virat Kohli reveals the reason behind announcing his Test retirement

Virat Kohli announced his Test retirement earlier this year in May, mere days after Rohit Sharma informed of his decision during IPL 2025. No one had anticipated the move on the part of the senior duo. Already out of T20I action following India's T20 World Cup victory in 2024, Kohli and Rohit were expected to continue in the rest of the formats despite the slump in form, as witnessed during the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. Even after the disappointing conclusion of the last WTC Cycle, Rohit had talked about bouncing back to form for the next Test cycle ahead.

Virat Kohli, meanwhile, returned to domestic cricket, a sign that signalled his intention to gain his form back. Ever since the start of his career, Kohli has held the red-ball format in high regard. In his earlier days, Kohli often talked about his goal to complete 10,000 Test runs. However, dashing those older talks, Kohli retired from the format, 733 runs short of his original goal. The update didn't go down well with the fans, who predicted foul play in the retirement. With his retirement from Tests, Kohli will now be seen only in ODIs where India upcoming matches are as late as October.

However, Kohli recently addressed the question again. The cricketer, who has now shifted to London with his family, attended an event for the YouWeCan Foundation, joining Yuvraj Singh, Sachin Tendulkar, Ravi Shastri, Chris Gayle, and Kevin Pietersen. There, anchor and sports presenter Gaurav Kapoor nudged the now-retired player about his decision to quit the longer format. In what sounded like a jovial attempt at dismissing the query, Kohli presented a unique reason.

In his response to the question by Gaurav Kapoor, Kohli said that he had just coloured his beard a couple of days back. Taking the need of colouring his beard constantly as a sign of his growing age, Kohli insinuated that the time was right for him to bid goodbye. In Kohli and Rohit's absence, India, now led by Shubman Gill, just completed a heroic win in the second India vs England Test. Thrashing the hosts by 336 runs, Team India claimed their first-ever win at Edgbaston as Gill etched his name in the history books, scoring a double ton and a century in that sole match.

"I just coloured my beard two days ago. You know it's time when you are colouring your beard every four days," said Kohli.

Virat Kohli, meanwhile, was recently spotted at Wimbledon. The former Indian captain attended the Round of 16 clash between Novak Djokovic and Alex de Minaur. Dropping the opening set 1-6 against the Australian seed, the seasoned 24-time Grand Slam champion, Djokovic, turned the tide around to win the clash 1-6, 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 and cruise into the Wimbledon quarterfinals. Virat Kohli posted a story praising Nole following the conclusion of the thrilling clash at the iconic Centre Court. Moreover, the former Test star also backed the 38-year-old to win the title this season, predicting a Djokovic vs Alcaraz clash in the final.

Ever since his retirement, Kohli has maintained a distance from the game. The star posted about IPL 2025, where RCB finally concluded its 18-year trophy drought. Following that, he has been away from any cricketing action ever since. More recently, however, Kohli took to social media to praise the young Shubman Gill for his impeccable run-scoring at Edgbaston against England. Moreover, following India's iconic win, Kohli took to X to laud the team's efforts, also mentioning Mohammed Siraj and Akash Deep in his tweet.