"He played loud Punjabi songs" - Former India opener recalls interesting BGT dressing room story after Virat Kohli's Test retirement

Team India's ace batter Virat Kohli surprised many by announcing his Test retirement on Monday, May 12. Following the 36-year-old's decision to call it quits from the format, former opener Shikhar Dhawan shared a dressing room incident from the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in 2013.

Dhawan made his Test debut in Mohali during the third Test. The southpaw announced himself with a stunning 187-run knock in India's first innings. He recalled Kohli was overjoyed with the century and played Punjabi songs in the dressing room to celebrate.

Speaking to the Times of India, Dhawan said:

"I scored 187 in that match. When I reached my century, Virat came out of the dressing room to cheer for me. He really enjoyed that century. When I went back to the dressing room, he played loud Punjabi songs, and we continued to celebrate."

During the interview, Dhawan also shared details about Kohli's fun-loving nature. He mentioned that the former India skipper enjoys mimicking people.

"Kohli was always ready for fun — cracking jokes, imitating teammates, and never missing a moment to lighten the mood. He’s very energetic, so there was always a lot of fun and laughter — pulling each other’s legs was a regular thing. He really enjoys mimicking others, doing impressions — he’s very good at it.

"Whether it’s copying how someone walks or imitating someone’s voice like Ishant Sharma’s — we’ve seen that side of him. Our sense of humour matched well, so we shared a lot of laughs together. These are all really good memories," Dhawan remarked.

Virat Kohli remains the most successful Test captain in the history of Indian cricket. Under his leadership, India won 40 out of 68 matches. With the bat, he is the fourth-highest run-getter in the format among the Indian batters, aggregating 9230 runs in 210 innings at an average of 46.85.

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"I absolutely believe he could have continued playing" - Shikhar Dhawan on Virat Kohli retiring from Test cricket

In the same interview, Shikhar Dhawan was asked if Virat Kohli should have continued playing Test cricket. He emphasized that the star batter could have easily prolonged his red-ball career, considering he is supremely fit.

He opined that Kohli always prioritized Test cricket and he would have thought thoroughly before taking the call. Dhawan said:

"I absolutely believe he could have continued playing red-ball cricket because he is physically very fit. But he started quite early, and mentally, only he knows whether he wanted to keep playing or not.

"Sometimes a player can be physically fit but not feel it mentally. Virat is the only person who can answer that, and I’m sure he must have taken this decision after a lot of thought. He always treated Test cricket above any other format. So, he must have given it a lot of consideration before making this big decision."

Virat Kohli has retired from T20Is and Tests but is expected to continue playing ODIs. He will be seen in action on Saturday, May 17, when Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) take on Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) at M.Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru, in IPL 2025.