It’s a question that now carries the weight of finality. For the first time in over three years, and for the first time in what feels like an entire generation, India will step onto the Test field without either Virat Kohli or Rohit Sharma in the XI.In the span of just a week, the pillars of India’s red-ball batting have walked away from the longest format. On May 7, Rohit Sharma quietly announced his retirement from Test cricket. And now, Virat Kohli, in an emotional Instagram post, has followed suit:“It’s been 14 years since I first wore the baggy blue…” he wrote, signalling the end of a remarkable Test journey that began in 2011 and shaped the heartbeat of Indian cricket for more than a decade.Together, Kohli and Rohit defined an era. For nearly 10 years, the two have been the spine of India’s Test batting, taking the fight to every corner of the cricketing world from Adelaide to Lord’s, from Chepauk to Cape Town. Their presence became so constant, so expected, that imagining a Test XI without them feels unfamiliar, almost surreal.But soon, fans will have to face that reality. India’s tour of England in July 2025 will mark a new chapter, one that will begin without the familiar sight of No. 18 and No. 45 walking out to bat in whites.Quiz: Who’s that IPL player?The last time India played a Test without both Kohli and Rohit was back in January 2022, during the second match of the series against South Africa in Johannesburg. Kohli, the then-captain, missed the game due to an upper back spasm. Rohit was absent for the entire series, recovering from a hamstring injury. KL Rahul led the team on that occasion, but India fell short, losing the Test by seven wickets—and later, the series 2-1. That series also marked the end of Kohli’s tenure as India’s Test captain.
Between them, Kohli and Rohit played 190 Tests, amassing 13,531 runs, 44 centuries, and countless memories. Their combined absence leaves a cavernous void not just in numbers, but in presence, in aura, in leadership.As India prepares for the next generation to take the mantle be it Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill, or others the dressing room, and the field, will undoubtedly feel emptier. The bat won’t twirl the same. The walk to the crease won’t have the same fire. The whites won’t shimmer with the same familiarity.It’s the end of an era and the beginning of a new one.
