Former India batter Mohammed Kaif has urged Virat Kohli to reconsider his decision as reports of his Test retirement loom large. Days after India captain Rohit Sharma decided to end his Test career, ESPNcricinfo reported that Kohli communicated to BCCI about his intention to retire from the format. With India set to tour England for a five-Test series very soon, the BCCI has reportedly urged the player to reconsider his decision. The player, however, is yet to communicate his final decision to the board.

Taking to social media platform X, Kaif suggested that if Kohli has made up his mind to retire, he should do so in style by playing the five Tests against England. Kaif also explained the logic behind Kohli mulling retirement, if the reports are true.

“Virat Kohli, India’s Babbar Sher wants to relax. He is thinking about retirement. I think he should go to England, prove his point and end his career on a high note. Because of the work he did in the T20 World Cup, he should end his career on a good note. Is he thinking about retirement out of helplessness? Because there is one kind of delivery that has been troubling him for many years. The ball bowled outside the off stump,” Kaif said in a video shared on X (formerly Twitter).

Is Virat Kohli gonna retire from tests? pic.twitter.com/i0OkZa8ErU

— Mohammad Kaif (@MohammadKaif) May 11, 2025

If Virat indeed retires, it would mark the end of an illustrious Test career of 14 years, during which he made 9,230 runs in 123 Tests at an average of 46.85, with 30 centuries.

He is also India’s most successful Test captain ever, having won 40 out of 68 Tests with the armband.

During 2016-2019, Virat enjoyed one of the biggest primes in the history of the longest format. With 4,208 runs to his name in 43 Tests at an average of 66.79, he scored 16 centuries and 10 fifties in 69 innings, making him one of the biggest ambassadors of the format.

However, the decade of the 2020s has not been great for the superstar batter, having made just 2,028 runs in 39 Tests at an underwhelming average of 30.72, with just three centuries and nine fifties to show in 69 innings. His numbers received a boost from a fine 2023, where he made 671 runs in eight Tests at an average of 55.91, with two centuries and two fifties in 12 innings.

He ended last year with just 382 runs in 10 Tests at a shocking average of 22.47, with just one century and fifty in 19 innings. His last Test outing was the Border-Gavaskar Trophy tour to Australia from November-January, where he made just 190 runs in nine innings at an average of 23.75, with his century at Perth being a highlight. That century was his first since July 2023, when he hit a ton against the West Indies at Port of Spain in 2023.