"Something left in Test cricket": EX-India spinner hints at Virat Kohli’s dramatic comeback in Test cricket
Published - 21 Mar 2026, 11:29 AM
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Former India spinner Ravichandran Ashwin still believes that Virat Kohli could have easily played Test cricket with success. Virat Kohli’s unceremonious retirement from Test cricket remains a mystery. Cricket fans wonder why the former India captain suddenly retired from the format.
On his YouTube channel, Ravichandran Ashwin claims he spoke with the batter about the topic. According to him, he told Virat directly that he could still offer the team in the format.
Should Virat Kohli continue in Test cricket?
At the age of 37, most of the cricketers edge past their prime. For Virat, the matter is not the same. He is still hungry for the runs. Last time, when he featured for Team India in the ODIs, he smashed a century and a half-century as well against New Zealand. He did the same against South Africa as well.
Ahswin raises a question on the nation’s perception as well. A part of cricket fans start to speculate about a cricketer’s retirement, no matter the stature, if the age is well over 30.
“I've directly told him that he had cricket left him in Test cricket. There was something left in Test cricket, but it’s okay, honestly. There is a problem in India about the perception,” Ravichandran Ashwin said in one of his YouTube videos.
Will Virat Kohli reconsider his retirement?
The former cricketer further said that Virat was someone who always kept the team first, more than his personal milestones. In the press conferences, he always talked about the team. It will not be easy for him to take a u-turn come back to the format again. Ashwin feels that reconsidering the Test retirement will not be easy for the batting icon.
“He has retired, I mean, even look at it from Virat's value and Virat's principle, he always kept the team first. Even at press conferences, he always said that the team is very important, that we have to win."
"He has said all this. And for him to say okay, I've taken a retirement, I want to come back, it’s not an easy decision for him to make, but I do certainly believe he had some cricket left,” he said further in the video.
The batter's Test stats in brief
Virat Kohli was one of the most must-watch cricketers in the Whites, under whose leadership, Team India developed into a team that liked to play with a must-win attitude. Kohli’s mindset helped the team and players to believe in themselves. As a batter, he was a run machine in the format as well.
Before concluding the Test career, the Delhi-born played 123 matches to score 9230 runs at an average of 46.85. During the course, the top order batter registered thirty centuries and thirty-one half-centuries. The numbers are enough to say what the batter did for the team. Kohli’s last Test match was on January 3, 2025, in Sydney against Australia.
Kohli's Test record
| Format | Mat | Inns | NO | Runs | HS | Ave | BF | SR | 100s | 50s | 4s | 6s | Ct |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tests | 123 | 210 | 13 | 9230 | 254* | 46.85 | 16608 | 55.57 | 30 | 31 | 1027 | 30 | 121 |
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