Ex-India Bowling Coach Paras Mhambrey Drops 'Unpopular Opinion' On Virat Kohli Announcing Test Retirement Ahead Of IND vs ENG Series

Virat Kohli sent shockwaves across the country on May 12, 2025, by announcing his retirement from the longest format of the game. The ex-India skipper is now retired from the Test and T20 format, but he will continue to play for India in ODIs. Virat Kohli's retirement from Test match cricket was also much talked about because he always endorsed Test cricket as the ultimate format of the game and spoke about prioritizing it.

Paras Mhambrey Addresses Virat Kohli's Shock Test Retirement

Both Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma, two stalwarts of the Indian Test team, announced their retirements in a span of five days. Rohit announced his retirement from Tests on May 7, 2025, and it was later followed by Kohli's announcement. The age factor has been highly debated in Kohli's case. Many feel that Virat Kohli, who is just 36, could have played the format for a few more years.

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Former India bowling coach Paras Mhambrey has now given his honest take about Virat Kohli's retirement. Mhambrey had watched Kohli and worked with him during his stint with Team India. 'Virat didn't have five years of test cricket left in him. You knew that, right? Their individual battles that they fought, they must have realized that it was time. They always say how valuable they could be in their contribution. And sometimes, it's the motivation bit. Maybe they were not as motivated to play that format. They won't be able to give their best to that format,' said Mhambrey in an exclusive chat with the Hindustan Times.

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The Saga Of Kohli and India's Slump In Test Cricket

The former India captain had a very troubled time in Test cricket while playing the India vs New Zealand series and the Border-Gavaskar Trophy series. India lost both the series, and it cost them a place in the World Test Championship (WTC) 2025 finals. After the culmination of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy series, which India lost eventually, there were calls for change in the Test setup, but little did anybody know that Virat would part ways with the longest format of the game just a month before the start of the IND vs ENG series.

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