Gautam Gambhir mentioned as Australia captain reveals Virat Kohli wasn't ready to retire

Virat Kohli’s retirement from red-ball cricket surprised every fan, and he wasn't ready to give up the format, but in the past two to three weeks, something unusual happened, and then he announced his retirement, claimed Aussie skipper Alyssa Healy.

Australian pacer Mitchell Starc’s wife Alyssa Healy, who is also the Australian women’s skipper, unveiled some narratives on Virat Kohli’s retirement as she was in India when Kohli announced his retirement.

Read also: Australia captain feels "sorry" for Virat Kohli, warns RCB of PBKS spoiling the party in IPL 2025 Final

SHORTS

View More

Your daily dose of cricket!

Loading...

Alyssa Healy speculations

The Australian women’s skipper, Alyssa Healy, wondered how a player can announce their retirement after appearing to be in good form in the red-ball format. Healy indulged in a chat show with Adam Peacock on the Willow Talk podcast.

The Australian Adam Peacock believed that there was something that sounded like gossip as he discussed Kohli’s England tour situation with someone, and the person told him about the Gambhir-Kohli relationship.

Peacock believed that there is more to come in the Gambhir-Kohli relationship. Gambhir joined the Indian team as head coach after India’s triumph in the T20 World Cup 2024. Gautam and Kohli were involved in an intense fight twice in IPL history, but after Gambhir arrived in the dressing room, both were seen sitting together many times in the dressing room.

"Given he doesn't exactly need to play the final, pack his bags, and get out to England. I was speaking to someone in last week with a knowledge of the situation, and I think there's more to come in the whole story of the Gambhir-Kohli relationship," Adam Peacock said.

Virat Kohli practised with red balls during IPL

Healy also revealed that she saw a video of Kohli hitting the red balls during IPL. After that, Healy thought that the Indian batter wasn’t ready to give up the longest format, and something happened with him in the last couple of weeks.

"I saw a video of him hitting red balls during IPL. Something's gone on in the last couple of weeks. I don't know what it is. I was like, 'interesting'. I don't think he was ready to give it up. I would say that," Healy said in the podcast.

Test cricket was the favourite form of cricket of Kohli, but he bid goodbye to it before the big Test series against England in England.

Will Virat Kohli return to the red-ball format?

The IPL chairman, Arun Dhumal, recently stated that the retirement of Kohli was his personal wish. Kohli had taken some unexpected calls previously as well, from skipping tours to giving up captaincy.

Currently, Kohli is officially retired from the red-ball format, and he is not part of the Indian squad for the England tour. Some young players are also named as future replacements for Kohli in Test cricket.