"Frontrunner in how Test cricket needs to be played": Virat Kohli's former RCB teammate reveals his 'most admirable' quality after his Test retirement

Former India wicketkeeper-batter Dinesh Karthik said that the intensity with which Virat Kohli played Test cricket across all five days was his most admirable aspect. The 39-year-old said that, more than Kohli's batting exploits, it was his leadership traits and the way he instilled fear in the opposition that stood out for him.

The current Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) batting coach and mentor said that Kohli's career would be spoken of in the same lines as other greats such as Sunil Gavaskar and Sachin Tendulkar.

"Without a shadow of a doubt. We have had some legends over the game. The Gavaskars, the Tendulkars and Virat Kohli is right up there with some of those names, Rahul Dravid and all of them. But more than what he did with the bat I think it was how he captained Team India, the kind of fear he was able to inflict in opposition but most importantly for the game of cricket the intensity with which he played across five days, that was the most admirable part," Karthik told Sky Sports.

Karthik added that in the era of T20 cricket, Kohli had been a torchbearer for the longest format of the game. He admitted that the game was losing Kohli at a critical juncture, with regard to the direction it was moving in.

"It is massive, in the context of not just Indian cricket, but in the context of Test cricket as a format, itself. In today's day and age, we all know the most watched format is definitely the T20s. In many ways, Kohli was the frontrunner in how Test cricket needs to be played and how much it needs to be valued and we are losing someone at a very important point in the cricketing ecosystem," Karthik said.

Virat Kohli's departure from Test cricket leaves India with a need to rebuild in the longest format

The retirement of Virat Kohli from Tests, which comes less than a week after Rohit Sharma calling it quits in whites, now leaves India with the need to rebuild their side, as they gear up for a new World Test Championship cycle.

As things stand, there is no clarity over who will take over from Rohit Sharma as the new Test match captain. India's first assignment in the new cycle will start on June 20, when they face England in a five-match Test series.