“I am disappointed with his rather premature retirement” - Bollywood legend’s brutal take on Virat Kohli’s decision ahead of ENG vs IND 2025 series

Bollywood legend Javed Akhtar has given his take on Virat Kohli's Test retirement. The star batter's decision to retire from the longest format came on Monday, May 12.

India are set to tour England for a five-match Test series next month. Javed Akhtar expressed his disappointment, calling Kohli's Test retirement 'premature' and opining that the 36-year-old had a lot of cricket left in him. Through his tweet, the Bollywood legend also requested Virat Kohli to reconsider his decision to retire from Test cricket.

"Obviously Virat knows better but as an admirer of this great player, I am disappointed by his rather premature retirement from Test cricket. I think there is still a lot of cricket in him . I sincerely request him to reconsider his decision," Akhtar wrote on X.

Virat Kohli represented India in 123 Tests in his international career. The right-hander made 9,230 runs at an average of 46.85. He also scored as many as 30 hundreds and 31 half-centuries in his red-ball career.

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The debate around the timing of Virat Kohli's Test retirement

There has been a major debate around the timing of Virat Kohli's Test retirement. The decision has come just before the all-important England tour, which also marks the beginning of the new World Test Championship (WTC) cycle for India.

Kohli did not have a great series in Australia, which now becomes his final Test series. While he did score a century in Perth in the first Test, he finished with just 190 runs from five Tests and nine innings.

Considering the fact that Rohit Sharma also announced his Test retirement on May 7, India will now be without two of their most experienced players when they tour England for a five-Test series.

With Rohit just having retired, Kohli stepping away from the format could prove a massive blow for the team, given the magnitude of the England series, irrespective of the latter's Test form over the last few years.

Nonetheless, both Rohit and Kohli, who also retired from T20Is after the 2024 T20 World Cup win, will now be seen playing only 50-over cricket for India.