Kohli made everybody feel 'Test cricket was the most important format of cricket: WV Raman

New Delhi, May 12 (IANS) With Virat Kohli announcing his retirement from Test cricket on Monday, it truly marked the end of a glorious era in Indian cricket. According to WV Raman, former Indian cricketer and coach of the senior women’s team, Kohli’s biggest achievement was making Test cricket feel like it was the most crucial format of playing the game.

Through an Instagram post on Monday, Kohli, 36, brought down curtains on an illustrious Test career – amassing 9230 runs in 123 matches at an average of 46.85 – making him the fourth-highest run-getter for India in the longer format after Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid and Sunil Gavaskar.

Kohli will also be remembered for being a relentless backer of playing Test cricket and urging young fans to watch the format in large numbers in stadiums. “He was a great ambassador for Test cricket, and he is one who turned out runs as consistently as the greats do. I would rate him as a great in Test cricket. Also the kind of passion he infused into the Indian team as a captain while playing Test cricket is something that is phenomenal.

“I'm sure that everybody would agree with the kind of endorsement Virat Kohli was for Test cricket. I think that's what will probably be remembered for a long, long time. Of course, the numbers will be remembered, there's no doubt about it.

“But more than the numbers, the legacy of Virat Kohli as one who really sort of kept Test cricket going and who made everybody feel that Test cricket was the most important format of cricket, I think was the remarkable aspect of his career,” said Raman in an exclusive conversation with IANS.

Kohli, who made his Test debut against the West Indies in June 2011, also led India in 68 matches in the game’s longest format. Under Kohli’s captaincy, India won 40 matches, including winning a Border-Gavaskar Trophy series in Australia for the first time in 2018-19, making him the country’s most successful Test captain of all time.

“The kind of intensity that he brought in - generally what happens is that if you're a batter-cum-player, like he was before becoming the captain, you'll probably try and keep your own counsel, you'll try and do what you are set out to do on the field. But I think he was somebody who was infectious with his intensity, even before he became the captain.

"Then when he became the captain, it was a case of going all in and going all out is what the kind of culture that he brought in. I think that you cannot sort of restrict it to one particular game or one particular series if you're talking about Virat's intensity and the infectious nature of his on the field in terms of intensity and aggression.

“I think that more or less almost epitomises Virat Kohli. This is not to say the others didn't do that, but he obviously was perhaps one who was very demonstrative. The fact of the matter is also that the results during his tenure as captain also bear testimony to the kind of mindset that he wanted everybody to play with,” added Raman, who had written a glowing feedback on Kohli after serving as India U19 team head coach on their tour of South Africa in 2008.

In recent times, Kohli struggled to make consistent runs in Tests. He scored 190 runs in nine innings of the 2024/25 Border-Gavaskar Trophy series, which India lost 3-1. 100 of those runs came in an unbeaten second innings knock at Perth.

IANS had also reported on Saturday that Kohli had communicated his desire to retire from the format ahead of the tour of England, starting on June 20. The BCCI had also roped in a highly influential cricketing figure to try and convince Kohli not to retire from the format, but it didn’t help.

“I think generally, cricketers obviously get that gut feeling of when they've had enough. So that's when they decide to give it up because it's something that they don't know when it is likely to happen. It's all about suddenly the mind saying that, ‘Ok, enough is enough, let's try and move on in life’. So that's when cricketers tend to retire.”

“I suppose that's something that Virat was thinking of for a while, from what we get to read in the reports in recent times. So once he's had enough, I think it's going to be difficult for anybody to kind of reignite the embers at that stage of his career. So I think if he wants to sort of call it a day, I think we need to try and respect that vision of his,” added Raman.

Kohli’s decision to retire from Tests comes days after Rohit Sharma announced his Test retirement. The veteran duo retiring in a week means India will travel for their five-match Test tour of England with a huge vacuum in the batting order.

“I think all these youngsters who have been a part of the team in recent times should consider this as a big opportunity to step up and say, ‘Okay fine. It may not be now that we'll perhaps go on to achieve as much as Rohit did or Virat did’. But they've got to try and think of emulating them over a period of time, because if they tend to get a bit too excited or wanting to match up to Virat or Rohit now in the next year or so, they might fall by the wayside.”

“They've got to try and think of this as an opportunity for a long-term objective to be achieved. They have to try and ensure that they take it step by step. I'm sure that there's enough talent available in the country. But it's all about trying not to get too excited about the big opportunity that has come their way. So I think that's what will be the key for the rest of the guys in this team now,” concluded Raman.

--IANS

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