"Maybe it was a mental burnout" - Aakash Chopra on Virat Kohli retiring from Tests ahead of IND vs ENG 2025 series

Former India player Aakash Chopra has opined that Virat Kohli potentially retired from Tests due to mental burnout. He pointed out that the modern batting great played the game with great intensity and might have felt he could not maintain that for five days any longer.

Kohli announced his retirement from Test cricket through a social media post on Monday, May 12. He will henceforth represent India only in the ODI format, considering he had already retired from T20Is after the Men in Blue's victorious 2024 T20 World Cup campaign.

In a video shared on his YouTube channel 'Aakash Chopra', the former India opener noted that Kohli played Tests with 'mad' intensity and might have quit the format as he was potentially running out of steam to sustain that across five days.

"He played Test cricket with the intensity of T20s. He ran a marathon at the speed of a sprint and kept running, and that is absolutely insane. As a batter, you can put all your effort into fielding, but he used to run all over the ground, celebrate every wicket, lift someone, or make someone fall," Chopra said (6:30).

"If not, he was messing with the crowd and driving them. This is mad intensity. It's one of its kind. We won't get to see such intensity again, nor did we find it before him. I remember VVS Laxman saying that Virat has many good things, but he fears that intensity might burn out. So maybe it was a mental burnout, that he cannot do this for five days anymore," he added.

Aakash Chopra highlighted that Virat Kohli has touched the next generation. He pointed out that the former India skipper showed the youngsters he was playing cricket like them, but across five days and in white clothes.

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"There will never be another player like Virat Kohli" - Aakash Chopra

Virat Kohli amassed 9230 runs at an average of 46.85 in 123 Tests. [P/C: Getty]

In the same video, Aakash Chopra lauded Virat Kohli for excelling across all three formats, highlighting that other modern batting greats like Steve Smith, Joe Root and Kane Williamson haven't been as successful.

"There will never be another player like Virat Kohli. He is a three-format master. Where do you get three-format masters now? If you see the Fab Four, none of them is playing all three formats well. If you see the upcoming generation, you see that someone is good in one format, but not in the other," he said.

The cricketer-turned-commentator opined that no player will be able to dominate all three formats like Kohli did.

"You have anyway started making format-specific teams, and going forward, it will happen a lot more. Virat Kohli has captained and scored runs in T20s. He has the status of the best ever in ODI cricket, and has scored more than 9000 runs in Test cricket. You won't find such dominance. I think he is the last of this generation," Chopra observed.

Aakash Chopra also pointed out that no venue worldwide had any issue selling tickets when Virat Kohli was playing Test cricket. He added that nations would feel the pinch now as the biggest cricket influencer in the world has bid goodbye to Tests.