NEW DELHI: Former India opener Shikhar Dhawan vividly remembers when he scored a century on his Test debut against Australia in Mohali; Virat Kohli celebrated the milestone like his own. Dhawan fondly recalls how Kohli, being his energetic self, celebrated the moment just as passionately — standing up, jumping, clapping, whistling, and soaking in every bit of the joy from the dressing room.“I scored 187 in that match. When I reached my century, Virat came out of the dressing room to cheer for me. He really enjoyed that century. When I went back to the dressing room, he played loud Punjabi songs, and we continued to celebrate,” Shikhar Dhawan told TimesofIndia.com in an exclusive interview.Kohli’s sudden retirement from Tests on Monday didn’t just leave fans teary-eyed — it also stunned Dhawan. He believes Kohli still had plenty of Test cricket left in him. Given his supreme fitness, relentless hunger for runs, and undying passion for winning, Dhawan feels Kohli could have continued enjoying the rigours and rewards of red-ball cricket for a while longer.“I absolutely believe he could have continued playing red-ball cricket because he is physically very fit. But he started quite early, and mentally, only he knows whether he wanted to keep playing or not,” Dhawan said.“Sometimes a player can be physically fit but not feel it mentally. Virat is the only person who can answer that, and I’m sure he must have taken this decision after a lot of thought. He always treated Test cricket above any other format. So, he must have given it a lot of consideration before making this big decision,” he added.
For Dhawan, who has seen Kohli from close quarters and has watched him grow in stature, will remember his friend for the infectious energy that he brought.“Kohli was always ready for fun — cracking jokes, imitating teammates, and never missing a moment to lighten the mood,” Dhawan recollected.“He’s very energetic, so there was always a lot of fun and laughter — pulling each other’s legs was a regular thing. He really enjoys mimicking others, doing impressions — he’s very good at it. “Whether it’s copying how someone walks or imitating someone’s voice like Ishant Sharma’s — we’ve seen that side of him. Our sense of humour matched well, so we shared a lot of laughs together. These are all really good memories,” said the southpaw.After 123 Tests, 9,230 runs, 30 centuries, 31 fifties, and an impressive average of 46.85, Kohli took to social media and retired with a simple message: “#269, signing off.” He walked away as India’s fourth-highest run-scorer in Test cricket history, behind only Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, and Sunil Gavaskar — a legacy carved in grit, glory, and the red ball he loved so dearly. So, when coaxed about what made Virat so special, Dhawan talked about his mindset, discipline, and unwavering hunger for success.Who’s that IPL player?“I have seen Virat since his childhood, and he always had the hunger to do something big, to become great, to become the number one in his path. From the time I saw him, even when he didn’t have full control over his diet, there was still a lot of discipline. And then when he got into the Indian team, the change that came in him was that he had to improve his diet too and enhance his game through fitness,” Dhawan said.“From there, the way he surged ahead… even when he wasn’t fully successful, his mindset remained that he would perform, do well, move forward for the country. That hunger to progress was always there. And along with that hunger, he took his discipline to a whole new level — he became very disciplined. And it was the combination of both that took him so far,” he said.
