Post-pandemic, Virat Kohli just wasn’t the same batter in Test cricket. From 2011 to 2019, the former India captain averaged 54.97 in the format. During this period, he was India’s best batter in red-ball cricket and only second to Steve Smith, who’s considered the best since Don Bradman.
The batter disappeared after the pandemic. From 2020 until his retirement, Kohli averaged just 30.72. From 2011 to 2019, he hit 27 hundreds. In the last 5 years of his career, that decreased to just 3 centuries. It was one of the steepest declines Test cricket had ever seen.
Despite that, Kohli had the team’s trust, especially from Rohit Sharma and Rahul Dravid. Within 6 months of the captain-coach duo’s breakup, Kohli retired from Test cricket. In the aftermath, India has lost another home Test series, which was a whitewash to South Africa.
Virat Kohli picked the easiest format
Earlier in the month, former Indian batter Sanjay Manjrekar expressed sadness over Kohli walking away from Test cricket while his ‘Fab 4’ competitors continue to score hundreds in the format and have surpassed him. Manjrekar hoped that Kohli fought hard for Test cricket and didn’t just see it as the easiest format of the game, ODIs.
“As Joe Root attains new heights in Test cricket, my mind goes to Virat Kohli. I just feel sad that people like Joe Root, Steve Smith, and Kane Williamson are really making a name for themselves in Test cricket. It would’ve been okay if Kohli just walked away and retired from all cricket. But that he’s chosen to play one-day cricket actually disappoints me more, because this is a format which, for a top-order batter, I’ve said before as well, is the easiest format,” Manjrekar had said.
Forced out of Test cricket
In an exclusive conversation with InsideSport, Manoj Tiwary was asked whether he agreed that ODIs are, in fact, the easiest format. The former Kolkata Knight Riders player didn’t agree with Manjrekar. To begin with, he doesn’t think Kohli left Test cricket on his own.
Manoj thinks Kohli forced him out. An atmosphere was created by which he had no option but to retire. Reports had suggested that the veteran batter could be dropped midway through the England tour, like Rohit Sharma in Australia, and he didn’t want that to happen. So, he went out on his terms.
“I don’t agree with it (ODIs being the easiest format). He (Kohli) was forced out. In my view, he was forced to leave. An atmosphere was created where he had no choice but to retire from Test cricket. Because he isn’t an individual who would give up on red-ball cricket. The decision was taken by him. But everyone knows the behind-the-scenes story. Everyone knows what happened.
Even after knowing all this, how can you say that he left the hardest format for the easiest one, just to score runs? I don’t agree with this statement,” Manoj told InsideSport.
