“Something really forced him” - Former India cricketer’s massive claim on Virat Kohli’s retirement ahead of ENG vs IND 2025 Tests

Former India pacer Karsan Ghavri has made a massive claim on Virat Kohli's Test retirement ahead of the recently-concluded England tour. Hinting that the BCCI might have forced him to quit from the format, Ghavri opined that the 36-year-old had it in him to play for another two years.

Kohli followed in Rohit Sharma's footsteps and announced his retirement from Test cricket on May 12, claiming it was the right time to step away from the format. The right-handed batter drew the curtains on his 14-year Test career, having played 123 matches and amassing 9230 runs. The star cricketer also retired as the most successful Indian Test captain, winning 40 out of 68 games.

Speaking on the Vickey Lalwani Show, the 74-year-old Ghavri criticised the BCCI for not giving legends like Virat Kohli a deserved farewell. He stated, as quoted by The Hindustan Times:

"He [Kohli] should have definitely continued playing for India easily, probably for another couple of years. But something really forced him to retire. And unfortunately, when he retired, he was not even given a farewell by the BCCI. Such players, such a great player who has done such great service to BCCI, India cricket and Indian fans, should be given a grand and fabulous farewell."

The Delhi-born cricketer's spot was under scrutiny due to his poor back-to-back series against New Zealand and Australia. He managed only one fifty in the home series against the Kiwis, followed by one century in the 2024-25 BGT.

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"It was a matter of some kind of petty politics" - Karsan Ghavri on retirements of Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli

Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli. (Image Credits: Getty)

Ghavri called out the politics of BCCI as the reason behind Rohit Sharma and Kohli retiring, adding they wished to continue playing.

"It's due to internal politics within the BCCI, which is hard to understand. And I think this is the reason he retired prematurely. Even Rohit Sharma retired prematurely. They were asked to go out. It's not like they wanted to leave. They wanted to continue. But the selectors and BCCI had different ideas. It was a matter of some kind of petty politics."

The prolific batting duo will continue to play ODI cricket. Their next assignment is the three 50-over matches in Australia in October.