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Updated 19 May 2025 at 18:08 IST

'He Rewired How India Played Cricket': Ex-India Head Coach Ravi Shastri Puts And End To The Sachin Tendulkar Vs Virat Kohli Debate

Virat Kohli recently announced his retirement from Test cricket. Kohli played his last Test match for India during the Border-Gavaskar Trophy series earlier this year

Reported by: Jishu Bhattacharya
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Sachin Tendulkar, Virat Kohli and Ravi Shastri
Sachin Tendulkar, Virat Kohli and Ravi Shastri | Image: BCCI/PTI

Virat Kohli, the former India skipper, will go down as one of the greatest ever to play the game of cricket. The greatness of Virat is that he did not need any color to shine because he radiated the most in whites, Test whites. Virat Kohli, despite his heroics on the field in the iconic Team India blue, will mostly be remembered for his contribution to Test cricket.

The King of the 22 yards, aka Kohli, had always been vocal about his love for Test cricket, and this is why his sudden retirement from the purest format of the game has shocked many players

Ravi Shastri Ends The Virat Kohli vs Sachin Tendulkar Debate

The Indian Test team has been very lucky, and so have been its fans. For thirty-three odd years, Sachin Tendulkar and Virat Kohli played at the number four position for India in Test matches. Sachin Tendulkar passed on his baton to a young Virat Kohli in 2013, and the King of 22 Yards did not disappoint either. Former India cricketer and coach Ravi Shastri has shared the dressing room with both Virat and Sachin at different stages of his life and career.

Shastri, in a column he wrote for Sportstar, differentiated between the two greats of Indian cricket. "I don’t like comparisons. I’ve been asked about Gavaskar and Tendulkar. I was lucky enough to share the dressing room with them. But I saw Virat from a different vantage not just from the comfort of the broadcaster’s box but through the suffocating pressure that only a dressing room can know. I saw him walk out not to play cricket but to command it. To own the battlefield. In doing so, he didn’t just win games; he rewired how India played cricket," wrote the former India Head Coach.

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Virat Kohli: The Man Who Redefined Test Cricket

In a day and age where youngsters swear by T20 cricket, Kohli managed to breathe life into the longest format of the game. The Indian Test team was bullish under Virat Kohli, and they always followed one mantra, 'fight fire with fire'. Whenever there is a montage made on Virat Kohli, the shot of saying 'for sixty overs they should feel like hell out there' in a team huddle will always stand out.

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Published 19 May 2025 at 18:08 IST