Delhi: Former India coach Ravi Shastri has revealed that Virat Kohli spoke to him a week before taking retirement from Test cricket. Shastri told that even though he found this decision shocking, he understood that this is the right time.
Kohli said goodbye to his Test career on Monday through Instagram post. He scored 9230 runs in Test cricket for India and scored 30 centuries. He is at number four among the players who have scored the most runs in Tests for India.
Kohli and Shastri have had a strong relationship before. According to media reports, Kohli contacted Shastri before taking a decision of retirement. Shastri confirmed this in the ICC review show.
What happened to Virat and Shastri?
Shastri said, “I spoke to him. His thinking was very clear that he had given everything. There was no regrets. I asked him some questions, but after hearing his answers, I felt that he was fully ready.”
He further said, “If he used to do some work, he used to give 100%. When the team was on the field, it seemed that Virat would take every wicket, every catcher will take every catch, every decision will take the same. So much energy will be tired somewhere. If you do not give yourself some time, do not rest, then it is sure to happen.”
Virat’s decision shocking
The former coach told that he found this decision shocking because he believed that Kohli still had the power to play Test cricket for 2-3 years. He said, “His fitness is fantastic, better than the rest of the players of the team. But when the brain gets tired, the body also gets an indication that it is enough now.”
Shastri and Kohli’s pair are counted among the most successful tours of Indian Test cricket. During this period, India won the historic Test series in Australia, won a consecutive series in the West Indies and won the Test series after 22 years in Sri Lanka.
Shastri credited this change to Kohli. He said, “When a player leaves the game, he later thinks that I would have done it too. But, Virat has done everything. He was captain, won the World Cup, also won the Under-19 World Cup. Now he did not have anything else left to prove anything else.”
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