“Wickets have nothing to do with his retirement” - Virat Kohli’s coach makes massive claim after ENG vs IND 2025 2nd Test

Ace Team India batter Virat Kohli’s childhood coach, Rajkumar Sharma, said pitches in England played no part in his Test retirement in May. The 36-year-old shocked the cricketing world by walking away from the red-ball format a month before the five-Test series in England.

Kohli was in dismal form in Tests in the 2024/25 season, averaging under 23 in 10 outings. After India endured challenging pitches in their last two Test series against New Zealand (home) and Australia (away), they have surprisingly received excellent batting conditions in the first two Tests of the ongoing England series.

The batting-friendly tracks in England have prompted fans to wonder if the champion batter could have continued and rediscovered his Test form.

Responding to those claims in a conversation with India Today, Rajkumar said:

"I mean, wickets have nothing to do with his retirement. That was his personal decision. It's not because of the wickets that he has taken the retirement. What he has done in the previous England tour everybody has seen, there was no scare as such. I mean, he's a superb player, and it was his personal decision."

Kohli has endured several uphill battles with the bat in Tests in England during his otherwise stellar career, averaging only 33.21 in 17 outings.

"He's in the best form of his life" - Virat Kohli's coach on Shubman Gill

Rajkumar Sharma praised newly-appointed captain Shubman Gill for leading from the front in the first two Tests against England, having replaced Kohli at the No. 4 position. The 25-year-old has taken to captaincy like a fish to water, scoring an incredible 585 runs at an average of 146.25 in four innings.

Gill broke several batting records with his 269 in the first innings of the Edgbaston Test, including the highest score by an Indian captain, surpassing Kohli.

"He's (Gill) just batting superbly. He's in the best form of his life, and he's leading from the front. That is the best part. He's taking the responsibility and he's playing superbly," said Rajkumar (via the aforementioned source).

The Indian skipper became the second all-time for most runs in a Test match, with his 161 in the second innings at Edgbaston taking his overall tally to 430 runs. Gill also became the first Indian captain to win a Test match at Edgbaston, breaking India's eight-match winless streak at the venue.