Virat Kohli: India great tells BCCI he wants to retire from Test cricket ahead of England series

Virat Kohli has told the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) that he wishes to retire from Test cricket ahead of this summer's series in England, Sky Sports News understands.

The BCCI declined to comment when approached by Sky Sports News but did not dispute that Kohli had informed them of his retirement plans.

It is understood the 36-year-old told chief selector Ajit Agarkar in April of his desire to step away before the start of the 2025-2027 World Test Championship cycle in June.

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Agarkar and another BCCI official are set to meet Kohli again but those plans are in limbo due to escalating tensions on the India-Pakistan border with the government telling citizens not to travel between cities.

India will face Ben Stokes' England team in five Test matches, all live on Sky Sports, starting at Headingley in Leeds on June 20 and concluding at The Kia Oval in London from July 31.

England vs India Test schedule

All games at 11am UK and Ireland; all live on Sky Sports

• First Test: Friday June 20-Tuesday June 24 - Headingley
• Second Test: Wednesday July 2-Sunday July 6 - Edgbaston
• Third Test: Thursday July 10-Monday July 14 - Lord's
• Fourth Test: Wednesday July 23-Sunday July 27 - Emirates Old Trafford
• Fifth Test: Thursday July 31-Monday August 4 - The Kia Oval

Kohli to follow Rohit into Test retirement?

Kohli has scored 9,230 runs, including 30 hundreds and 31 half-centuries, at an average of 46.85 in his 123 Tests, 68 games of which were as captain.

The batter has only averaged a shade over 32 in Test cricket in the last two years and his century against Australia last November was his first since July 2023.

In the Australia series, he averaged 23.75 in five Tests.

Still, India had earmarked Kohli's experience as key against England, particularly with captain Rohit Sharma having just retired from Test cricket himself.

A source told Sky Sports News that Kohli informed the BCCI of his plans before Rohit retired but feels it is the right time to step away.

Shubman Gill is the frontrunner to replace Rohit as skipper, even though star seam bowler Jasprit Bumrah is the vice-captain and stood in for Rohit in Australia when he missed the first Test on paternity leave and dropped himself for the fifth.

Kohli and Rohit retired from T20 international cricket after India's T20 World Cup win in the West Indies last summer and if the former joins the latter in quitting Test cricket as well, they will only be available for one-day internationals moving forward.

Why does 'selfless' Kohli want to quit Tests now?

Cricket commentator and Sky Sports News presenter Matt Kabir Floyd:

"I was a bit surprised but if the conversations have been going on for a couple of months it probably implies he has been thinking about it since the Australia tour.

"I thought he would get a farewell tour of England, a big one to finish on, and maybe even play in India against West Indies in October, so it's quite selfless to not want that.

"I think the main reason is form. There is a feeling that has been dropping for a while and that he has been hanging on a little bit. He hasn't been at his best in Tests for some time.

"Also, with his big mate Rohit deciding to retire as well, he might feel he doesn't want to go on without him. It might not feel the same without a guy he has grown up with.

"He probably wants to extend his career and keep playing ODI cricket, which is his best format, and the IPL as well."

Kohli part of cricket's 'Fab Four' batters

Kolhi has been part of cricket's 'Fab Four' batters alongside England's Joe Root, Australia's Steve Smith and New Zealand's Kane Williamson but could now be the first of those to quit Tests.

The Indian has the lowest average and has scored the fewest Test runs of the group.

Floyd added: "I think Kohli is fourth of the 'Fab Four' in Test cricket but only just. Root and Williamson have improved with age but the lull Kohli had when he didn't score a hundred for three years just drops him below them, I think.

"But if you are talking overall - and batting should be about adaptability and playing in all formats - I think he is the greatest batter of the modern era and arguably the greatest-over ODI batter.

"He is a better T20 player than Root, Smith and Williamson."

How has Kohli fared in England?

Kohli has scored 1,096 runs across 17 Test matches in England, at an average of 33.21.

Fifteen of those fixtures have come against England, with the other two games World Test Championship finals versus New Zealand (in Southampton in 2021) and Australia (at The Kia Oval in 2023).

Kohli notched just 134 runs in 10 innings on his maiden Test tour of England in 2014, with a top-score of 39, but he impressed four years later, racking up 583 runs at an average of 59.30.

In that 2018 series - in which he was the highest run-scorer on either side - Kohli struck two hundreds, at Edgbaston and Trent Bridge, and two other fifties.

The batter hit a couple of half-centuries in the 2021 series, at Headingley and The Kia Oval, while his final Test innings in England looks likely to be the 49 he made against Australia in the most recent World Test Championship final in June 2023, at The Oval.

Kohli the captain

As India Test captain between 2015 and 2022, Kohli won 40 of his 68 matches in charge, losing 17 and drawing 11.

That makes him the fourth most successful captain in men's Test history in terms of match wins, behind only South Africa's Graeme Smith (53 victories in 109 Tests) and Australian duo Ricky Ponting (48 in 77) and Steve Waugh (41 in 57).

Kohli was instrumental in India placing a greater focus on Test cricket, with a heavy emphasis on fitness.

He always cut a passionate and animated presence in the field - traits which continued after he handed over the reins to Rohit.

Kohli's notable wins as skipper included leading his side to a first series victory in Australia in 2018-19.

(c) Sky Sports 2025: Virat Kohli: India great tells BCCI he wants to retire from Test cricket ahead of England series