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Virat Kohli may have retired from Test cricket, but his captaincy days still remain very fresh for Indian cricket fans. Recently, Virat Kohli reflected back on some of the glorious days of his international career amid the IPL 2026, where he has been in sublime form with the bat for RCB.
The Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) have almost sealed the IPL 2026 playoff spot, and Kohli, with over 400 runs, played a key role in that. Having made it clear that he is aiming to play in the 2027 ODI World Cup, the dashing right-hander went back to his Test captaincy days.
Virat Kohli gets emotional remembering India’s golden Test era
Speaking on the latest RCB Podcast, Virat Kohli opened up about the Indian cricket team's dressing-room atmosphere during his Test captaincy and explained how that young team slowly turned into one of the strongest sides in the world.
Kohli looked emotional while talking about those years and admitted that leading India in Test cricket for such a long time will always remain one of the biggest achievements of his life.
Virat Kohli said on the podcast, “I, in fact, looked at the times that I have been able to play test cricket for so long and, you know, the opportunity and leading India for so long to, you know, some amazing victories and a golden era in our test journeys. You know, a bunch of young guys who always wanted to play test cricket for India having the opportunity of their lives as a young group.”
Virat Kohli reveals secret behind India’s Test dominance
Meanwhile, the 37-year-old also reflected on how a group of young cricketers changed the face of Indian Test cricket together. The former Indian captain explained that the biggest strength of that Indian cricket team was the strong bond between the players.
Kohli pointed out that there was hardly any major age gap between the core group of players like Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane, Ravichandran Ashwin, Ishant Sharma, Mohammed Shami, and Ravindra Jadeja. Since everyone was almost from the same generation, there was no senior-junior atmosphere inside the dressing room, and every player took their responsibility.
He explained that every player felt personally responsible for making the team better and that mindset slowly transformed India into a dangerous team both at home and overseas. And Kohli felt this was one of the biggest reasons behind India’s success in Test cricket during that phase.
The RCB icon further added, “We were like a group of friends. So, what happened was, okay, I was leading, and the management was, you know, taking the team forward in a certain way, but the most important thing was because of the average age of the group, everyone felt like they had responsibilities and ownership.”
Virat Kohli shares untold story behind India’s historic Test success overseas
Under Kohli’s captaincy, India achieved several historic moments. The biggest came during the 2018-19 season when India won a Test series in Australia for the first time ever. Kohli also became the Asian captain with the most Test wins in countries like South Africa, England, New Zealand, and Australia.
His captaincy changed the entire attitude of Indian cricket overseas. India started fighting aggressively in every condition. Kohli’s strong focus on fitness also completely changed the entire culture inside the Indian team. They have played fearless cricket, dominated overseas, and carried an aggressive attitude that completely changed the team’s identity in world cricket.
Kohli signed off by saying, “It was not like, yeah, these guys will look after the team and, you know, we do not have anything to do with it. It felt like, okay, we are young, we want to create this, you know, team for the next six, seven, eight years. What can I do to make the team better? So people started asking questions of themselves.”
