"With him, actions speak louder than words": When a former England captain hailed Virat Kohli's role in helping Test cricket thrive in T20 era

Indian batting talisman Virat Kohli has communicated his desire to retire from Test cricket with the BCCI ahead of the tour of England in June, as per reports emerging on Saturday. The 36-year-old has scored 9230 runs in 123 Tests since debuting for India in the longest format in 2011.

In 2018, former England captain Nasser Hussain praised Kohli and India's role in promoting Test cricket. He said that Kohli and India had walked the talk, as far as keeping Test cricket alive is concerned, by increasing the number of home and away Test matches.

"Some people do that and it's just words. You look them in the eye and think: do you really mean that? With him, actions speak louder than words. What India and Virat Kohli have done in the last couple of years, boy have they taken to Test match cricket. They've upped their number of games, both home and away, and seem to be really putting meaning into it," Hussain had said in an interview (via The Cricket Monthly).

Hussain said Kohli calling Test cricket as the premier form of the game during the England tour of 2018 would have resonated with young kids trying to represent their national sides.

"So when he said on that tour that it's still the premier form of the game, it resonates not only with young lads trying to get into the India side, and not only with the kids in Mumbai but throughout the world game," he said.

Virat Kohli ranks as India's most successful Test captain

Virat Kohli took over as India's full-time Test captain in January 2015. He led the country in 68 Tests, winning 40 of those matches- the most for an Indian in their Test history.

Among his biggest achievements as captain was leading India to a first-ever Test series win in Australia in 2018-19 and becoming only the second captain after Kapil Dev to lead an Indian side to two Test match wins in a single series in England, in 2021.