It’s often said that Indian cricketers don’t retire; they are retired. Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman are two of the greatest batters in India’s Test history, yet neither got a farewell. Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma are often clubbed together as well, rightly or not. And they too suffered a similar fate to Dravid and Laxman.
Neither got to play a farewell Test and played their last match in Australia. It was reported back in 2012 that Dravid and Laxman didn’t retire but were retired. In 2025, it was stated that Rohit and Kohli were also pushed out.
Age wasn’t on the batter’s side in both cases. Form too wasn’t great. So, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) took the difficult decision. Many were unhappy. But cricket moves on. Kohli, Rohit, Ajinkya Rahane and Cheteshwar Pujara took over soon, and people forgot Dravid and Laxman. Similarly, no one really mentioned Rohit and Kohli during the recent 2-2 drawn India vs England Test series.
BCCI’s internal politics
But former Indian all-rounder Karsan Ghavri doesn’t think that Rohit and Kohli were treated correctly. He thinks the latter had a couple of years of Test cricket left in him. Ghavri’s sure that Kohli didn’t wish to retire from the format he loved the most. He’s certain both were retired prematurely. He’s certain politics played a role and thinks BCCI didn’t handle it well.
“He [Kohli] should have definitely continued playing for India easily, probably for another couple of years. But something really forced him to retire. And unfortunately, when he retired, he was not even given a farewell by the BCCI. Such players, such great players who have done such great service to BCCI, Indian cricket, and Indian fans, should be given a grand and fabulous farewell,” Ghavri said on the Vickey Lalwani Show.
“It’s due to internal politics within the BCCI, which is hard to understand. And I think this is the reason he retired prematurely. Even Rohit Sharma retired prematurely. They were asked to go out. It’s not like they wanted to leave. They wanted to continue. But the selectors and BCCI had different ideas. It was a matter of some kind of petty politics,” Ghavri added.
Editor's Pick
Cricket
Will Gambhir try Rishabh Pant or Nitish Reddy in IND vs SA 3rd ODI with series on the line?
Top Stories
