'Mentally fried': Ravi Shastri drops bombshell on Virat Kohli's Test retirement

Virat Kohli (ICC Photo)

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Virat Kohli retires from Test cricket after 14 years

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Former India head coach Ravi Shastri has admitted that Virat Kohli ’s decision to retire from Test cricket caught him off guard, especially since he felt the star batter had a few more years of red-ball cricket left in him. Kohli, who called time on his Test career on Monday, finished with 123 matches, 9,230 runs at an average of 46.85, including 30 centuries — a glittering resume by any standard.Shastri revealed that he had spoken to Kohli just a week before the announcement and sensed that the decision had already been made."I did speak to him about it, I think a week before that [his announcement] and his mind was very clear that he'd given us everything. There were no regrets," Shastri told The ICC Review."Virat surprised me because I thought he had at least two-three years of Test match cricket left in him. But then, when you're mentally fried and overcooked, that's what tells your body. You might be physically the fittest guy in the business."You might be fitter than half the guys in your team, but mentally you're well done, as they say, then it sends a message to the body. You know, that's it," he said.Shastri also elaborated on the intense spotlight Kohli operated under and how that played a part in his burnout."He's got accolades around the globe. He has a bigger following than any other cricketer in the last decade. Whether it's Australia, whether it's South Africa, he just got people to watch the game. There was a love-hate relationship."They would get angry because he had the ability to get under the skin of the viewers. In the way he celebrated, you know his intensity was such that it was like a rash."It spread very quickly, not just within the dressing room, but within living rooms as well for people watching cricket. So, he was an infectious personality," Shastri added.Kohli captained India to 40 victories in 68 Tests, making him the most successful Indian captain in the format."If he decided to do something, then he gave his 100%, which is not easy to match. Individually, as a bowler, as a batsman," said Shastri, who shared a successful captain-coach partnership with Kohli."A player does his job, [and] then you sit back. But [with Kohli] when the team goes out, it's as if he has to take all the wickets, he has to take all the catches, he has to make all the decisions on the field."That much involvement, I would think there's going to be a burnout somewhere if he doesn't take a rest, if he doesn't compartmentalise how much he wants to play across formats, there is bound to be a burnout."Together, the Kohli-Shastri duo delivered one of Indian cricket's most successful Test phases — from a maiden series win in Australia to back-to-back wins in the West Indies and ending a two-decade-long drought in Sri Lanka.According to Shastri, there is nothing left for Kohli to prove in the game."At times when you quit the game, you know, and after a month or two months you say, 'I wish I had done this, I wish I had done this," he said."[Kohli] He's done everything. He's captained sides, he's won World Cups, he's won an Under-19 World Cup [2008] himself. I mean, there's nothing for him to achieve," he said.

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