"The way Virat Kohli announced his retirement"- Mohammed Shami reacts

Former Indian skipper Virat Kohli announced his T20I retirement after India's T20 World Cup win last month. Kohli announced his retirement immediately after the match in his post-match interaction. Rohit Sharma and Ravindra Jadeja also followed in his footsteps.

After having a quiet tournament scoring just 75 runs in his first seven games, Kohli scored a match-winning 76 in the final and played his part in helping India win their second T20 World Cup title. Kohli has now won an ODI World Cup and a T20 World Cup as a player. He is setting his sights on the WTC 2025 final next.

Meanwhile, Mohammed Shami who has given hopes of his comeback to the Indian fans in a recent interaction with YouTuber Shubhankar Mishra has opened up on Virat Kohli's T20I retirement.

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Mishra, the host of the show asked Shami whether Virat Kohli too like James Anderson was forced to announce his T20I retirement. Shami played down the question as he said, it was not forced on Kohli's case.

Virat Kohli's T20I Retirement Was Planned: Mohammed Shami

"The way Kohli announced his T20I retirement it feels like he had already planned about it. He wanted to finish it on a good note and he did that after winning the T20 World Cup. I too want to end my career on a happy note" said Shami.

After Virat Kohli's T20I retirement, the number three slot is up for grabs. Several contenders are in contention for that slot. Ruturaj Gaikwad batted at number three in the Zimbabwe series. In one of the matches, Shubman Gill batted at that number before he started opening the batting. Sai Sudharsan and Abhishek Sharma are among others who can fight for that slot swell.

All the senior players including Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, and Jasprit Bumrah were rested for the Zimbabwe series. However, Gautam Gambhir, the newly appointed head coach of the Indian cricket team wanted Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli to play in the ODI series against Sri Lanka and hence both are back in the side. Initially, Virat and Rohit wanted to skip the Sri Lanka series but on Gambhir's request have made themselves available.

Virat Kohli in a report by Cricbuzz has confirmed to the BCCI that his relationship with Gautam Gambhir in the past will not impact their relationship with the Indian team. With the interest of the national team in focus, both are looking to work towards the same goal.

Virat and Gambhir both came out in the open to speak about the relationship and the bond they share after the two had an exchange after the KKR-RCB match. Gambhir was seen hugging Virat after the match to put all doubts to bed regarding a possible rift between the two.

"People are very disappointed with my behavior. I hugged Naveen, and then the other day, Gauti bhai [Gautam Gambhir came and hugged me. Your masala is over, so you're booing. We're not kids anymore," Virat had said during a Puma event.

Also read: Former KKR Team Director comes down to defend Gautam Gambhir after India squad announcements vs Sri Lanka