“A brain fade can happen and you make a decision” - Former KKR batter’s huge statement on Virat Kohli’s Test retirement

Former Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) batter Manoj Tiwary has made a huge claim regarding Virat Kohli's Test retirement. Kohli recently announced his decision to retire from Test cricket, just ahead of the England tour.

Talking on Cricbuzz, Tiwary opined that Kohli might have had a 'brain fade' in the lead-up to the decision. He also felt that the 36-year-old had a lot more cricket in him and had a good chance to reach the 10,000-run milestone.

"Sometimes you face a time when a brain fade can happen and you make a decision. It's possible he had that too. There's a lot of cricket left in him. He was too close to 10,000 runs. Although it might not be important to him, a lot of young cricketers dream of making their name in Test cricket and reaching that milestone. He had a good chance. I don't know what happened or what went wrong that he made this decision," Tiwary said.

Virat Kohli played 123 Tests for India and scored 9,230 runs at an average of 46.85 with 30 hundreds and 31 half-centuries to his name.

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Manoj Tiwary wishes for Virat Kohli to reverse Test retirement

In the same conversation, Manoj Tiwary pointed out that Virat Kohli was responsible for keeping Test cricket alive in the T20 era. The former KKR batter also urged Kohli to reverse his retirement decision for the sake of all cricket fans.

"I felt a bit sad. In an era where T20 cricket is racing ahead, Kohli has kept Test cricket alive. He could have easily not given it the required importance. But he kept Test cricket as a priority always. We saw that in his captaincy, too. I'll ask him to close his eyes and take the retirement back as soon as possible. It'll bring back the happiness on the faces of all cricket fans. Even I did that. I took back retirement from first-class cricket after just five days and then played for Bengal, trying to win the Ranji Trophy," Tiwary stated.

Virat Kohli, who also retired from T20Is last year, will now be seen playing only ODI cricket for India. He is currently plying his trade for the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) in IPL 2025, where he is among the top scorers this season.