"All great players have egos" - Former England captain reflects on Virat Kohli bidding farewell to Test cricket

Former England captain Michael Vaughan acknowledged that Virat Kohli's ego wasn't as big as he thought, as he reflected on the latter's retirement from Test cricket. Vaughan speculated that family life has eased the veteran's attitude massively, and he wishes for a normal life moving forward.

Reports were swirling around on May 10 that the 36-year-old wishes to retire from the longest format at the international level. The right-handed batter then officially announced it on Monday, May 12, with a lengthy Instagram post. Having played his first Test in 2011, the former Indian captain retired after featuring in the last of those 123 matches earlier this year.

Writing in his column for The Telegraph, the 50-year-old stated:

"All great players have egos, but maybe Virat’s wasn’t quite as big as we thought. Perhaps family life has mellowed him a bit, and he just wants as normal a life as he possibly can, which is probably going to be in London, where he spends a lot of time now."

The Delhi-born cricketer had struggled massively in the last two Test series. The series against New Zealand and Australia saw him make only one century and a half-century each. He began the tour of Australia with a hundred in Perth, but eventually finished with only 190 runs at 23.75.

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"India will feel a very different team without Kohli in their ranks this summer" - Michael Vaughan

Michael Vaughan. (Image Credits: Getty)

Vaughan also warned that head coach Gautam Gambhir faces a massive challenge against England in the five-Test series this summer. While the 2005 Ashes-winning captain sees the talent pool in India to thrive on English soil, he reckons they will sorely miss their former skipper.

"The England tour signals a new era for India without Kohli, Rohit Sharma or Ravichandran Ashwin. I would think the head coach Gautam Gambhir will be excited to forge a new team under a new captain. It will be a seriously tough tour, but they will have the talent in the team to win, as long as they have that hunger that Kohli always brought. Either way, India will feel a very different team without Kohli in their ranks this summer. They will miss him, and so will the game more widely."

Team India's Test series against England begins on June 20 in Leeds.