NEW DELHI: Former BCCI president Sourav Ganguly has addressed the ongoing speculation surrounding Virat Kohli’s retirement from Test cricket, confirming that the decision was entirely Kohli’s own. Kohli, 36, announced his retirement on May 12, having informed the BCCI four days earlier—despite the board’s efforts to persuade him to reconsider.Ganguly, who shared a close working relationship with Kohli during his tenure as BCCI president, emphasized that the former India captain made the call independently and without external pressure. Kohli’s announcement came after his return to domestic cricket, representing Delhi in the Ranji Trophy, following a disappointing tour of Australia.
“I would say it’s very irrelevant. My terms, someone else’s terms. As a player, you understand. As a player everyone understands where he stands at the moment. Just look at Virat. Everybody says why. I know he didn’t have the best five years in Test cricket but champions like him rediscover. And I guarantee that if he was on this tour of England, he would have scored runs. But he felt it was time to go,” Ganguly told PTI.Kohli’s decision caught many off guard—including Ganguly himself—given that he had already stepped away from T20Is and was widely expected to continue in the longest format for a few more years.“Everything has to come to an end. A lot of us got surprised with Virat Kohli retiring. Just 36 years old. Fit, although he still plays IPL and one-day cricket, it’s never the same,” Ganguly said. “You have to finish playing someday, and for me, I thought it was the best time for me to finish, and I did.”Ganguly also reflected on his own exit from the game, drawing a parallel between Kohli’s decision and his own. He retired from Tests at 37, after being out of the ODI side for over a year and never having played T20Is.Despite being at his peak in 2006–2007—when he scored more ODI runs than any other Indian batter—Ganguly stepped away as the team began looking ahead to the 2011 World Cup with a focus on younger talent.The Indian Express had first reported Kohli’s retirement and the BCCI’s unsuccessful efforts to convince him to carry on. Ganguly ended his Test career with a golden duck against Australia in Nagpur—departing, like Kohli, on his own terms.
