"You don't feel you want to do it anymore" - Former South Africa batter's blunt take on Virat Kohli's Test retirement

Former South Africa batter Daryll Cullinan made a blunt take on Virat Kohli's Test retirement. Kohli announced his decision to retire from Test cricket on Monday, May 12.

While it may seem that Virat Kohli retired a little earlier than expected, Daryll Cullinan said that he was not surprised with the decision as Kohli's form over the last few years in Tests has not been great. He added that when a player is going through a bad run for a long period of time, they also deal with anxiety and come to a point where they do not feel like putting in the work anymore.

"His retirement didn't really come as a surprise to me. We've seen in recent times he's battled a bit at Test cricket. And what happens, I believe, as a batsman too, or sportsman or cricketer, is that when you are constantly working on your game and physically staying in shape and mentally dealing with anxiety at Test cricket, you get to a point where you don't want to put in that work to get yourself out of a bad rut or find some form again. You don't feel you want to do it anymore. I think that's as much whether it's injury or a really bad run which ends your career," he told Hindustan Times.

Virat Kohli played 123 Tests and scored 9230 runs at an average of 46.85. He also notched up 30 centuries and 31 half-centuries in his Test career. Kohli's retirement comes just before the England tour, as India are scheduled to play a five-Test series in England in June this year.

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Cullinan feels the England tour would have been hard work for Virat Kohli

Daryll Cullinan also believes that the England series would have been hard work for Virat Kohli. In the last Test series in Australia, Kohli scored just 190 runs from five matches despite having scored a hundred in the first Test at Perth.

"And the series in England would have been hard work for him. And he's had his struggles there in the past. And particularly with pace or movement or seeing, he would have had to have really put in the time and the hours to have a good series and to play well," he opined.

Therefore, Cullinan feels that Kohli could probably have thought this to be the right time to walk away from Test cricket, thus making the decision to call it a day in the longest format.