Delhi: Indian Premier League (IPL) chairman Arun Singh Dhumal has appealed to India’s great batsman Virat Kohli to rethink the retirement decision from recently taken Test cricket. He appreciated Kohli’s constantly better fitness and compared his commitment to cricket to Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic in tennis. On Sunday, Dhumal also said that he hopes that if the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) wins the IPL 2025 title, Kohli will not retire from the IPL.
Chief selector Ajit Agarkar revealed that Virat had contacted the selection committee in April and informed about retiring from Test cricket. He announced this decision through social media posts in May.
Dhumal said in an interview to PTI video, “The fitness of Virat is probably better than the first season. I want Virat to play even after winning the trophy of RCB. The whole country wants Virat to play cricket, and I want him to take back the decision to retire from Test cricket.”
He further said, “I also hope that he does not retire from IPL, he is the biggest brand ambassador of cricket. His dedication to cricket is the same, who is of Roger Federer or Novak Djokovic in tennis, so I want him to play.”
Significantly, RCB will now take the winner of another qualifier running between Mumbai Indians and Punjab Kings in Ahmedabad in the final. It will also have to be seen whether Virat Kohli considers Dhumal’s appeal or not.
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(Tagstotranslate) Indian National Cricket Team (T) IPL 2025 (T) Virat Kohli