On multiple occasions during the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in Australia, Virat Kohli gave reminders to his Team India colleagues of how ‘he is done’ with Test cricket.It is understood that not many took it seriously at that time because it was an exhausting tour for the team where Kohli, too, didn’t have a good time except a hundred early in the series. In nine outings, he could manage only 190 runs and 100 of those came in a single innings.Down Under, the right-hander struggled after the early high and was nowhere close to the high standards he had set in that part of the world.Go Beyond The Boundary with our YouTube channel. SUBSCRIBE NOW!The next big assignment for the Indian team after the BGT was the Champions Trophy and the highs of the multi-nation tournament pushed the Test discussions back.
However, well before the discussions for the England Test tour got underway, Kohli reached out to the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and said he wanted to call it a day in the longest format. While it came as a surprise to the men who matter, who had him in the scheme of things at least for England, Kohli had made up his mind.Not just BCCI, even people, who have the best interests of Indian cricket at heart, outside of it want him on that flight to England but the ball seems to be in Kohli’s court now.It is worth noting that Kohli expressed desire to lead the side again but it wasn’t entertained by the BCCI as they had an eye on the future, and wanted to groom a young leader for the new World Test Championship cycle. As TimesofIndia.com had reported, Shubman Gill was earmarked as the leader for the future as the Indian cricket board didn’t want to look back as far as captaincy is concerned.
“A new WTC cycle is starting. Future and continuity has to be kept in mind as far as the team is concerned. Even coach Gautam Gambhir would want a set of players he is likely to work with for an extended period. There can’t be any stop-gap solutions for such an important series. The last two Test series haven’t been ideal for the team and the England series is very crucial,” a source tracking developments had explained.A finger can’t be put on whether it was dip in form or the captaincy discussion but the reality of not seeing a familiar name at No. 4 in the Test teamsheet is likely to hit Indian cricket, and hit hard.
