Virat Kohli: Test cricket's Chosen One ends his watch with a sceptre but not the crown

Virat Kohli and 'underachiever' do not belong in the same sentence, it feels oxymoronic and inherently wrong. But that is the nagging and lingering feeling left like an unwanted aftertaste in the wake of his Test retirement.

Yes, there are those 9230 Test runs, a staggering leadership record, the unofficial but important title of being the eternal beacon holder of the format, and countless memorable innings and moments, but it ideally should not have ended like this, with a social media post on a random Monday morning.

"I’ll always look back at my Test career with a smile," Kohli said in his statement, perhaps the most poignant one in his entire farewell message.

The question is, can we? If the human mind were not capable of manifesting or hoping for more, then perhaps yes.

In an alternate ending, there are so many more such memories to come, so much more silverware, and a grand send-off. Cricket has never tried or shown to be kind, and this is one of its worst reminders of that. In a massive power move, it has shown how it can wear down even the greatest in the blink of an eye.

While the player's desire remains paramount and nothing supersedes that, it is a hard fact to digest that Test cricket's vigilante - the one that the format needed and deserved - walks away far sooner than his peers, and more surprisingly, with his task left unfinished.

Was it his own waning prowess, the relentless trolling, a fear of tarnishing his legacy, the at times unjustified fault-finding punditry, or a combination of everything that led to this moment? We may never know that, but the timing of the retirement does leave us with room and the right to speculate.

From Fidel Edwards to Scott Boland - Virat Kohli's Bell Curve Test cricket journey

Virat Kohli was destined for greatness, but that did not shine through straight off the bat. Coming into the side as a steely-eyed but cautious youngster in a side full of generational batters, he found it a while to find his feet.

His first challenge came on the opposite side of the globe from India, a bilateral Test series against the West Indies. Caribbean pacer Fidel Edwards, with his slingy action, granted Kohli a not-so-gentle welcome into the longest format by dismissing him both times in his first-ever Test appearance.

An escalating challenge in the form of a gruelling Australian tour just months later. After some unimpressive returns, Kohli scored his first Test ton at the Adelaide Oval, in what was Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman's last Test for India.

With a spot higher up the order opening up, Kohli made the most of it with some impressive performances on home soil, including a defiant masterclass in Nagpur against the English spinners.

Taking the baton over from Sachin Tendulkar, along with the No.4 spot, Kohli proved that it belonged to him by scoring a hundred at the Wanderers. Statements have not been made louder than this, for the No.4 spot never went away from him since then.

So far, the bell curve was shooting upwards, and the first jolt came with the 2013 England tour. Falling prey to James Anderson and his outswingers, it was a reality check, a stern reminder that it is not always roses and sunshine.

The next chapter proved to be the gateway to the peak of the bell curve. An unexpected turn into captaincy. While for some it comes as the last thing they need, when they are attempting to get their career going. But not for Kohli, as it brought out the very best in him.

A landmark Border-Gavaskar series was just the start of an almost irreplaceable peak. Kohli's biggest challenge was overturning India's overseas record, and he was successful in that, and more importantly, he walked the talk. India were no longer a team waiting to be rolled over in alien conditions.

Revolutionising the red-ball bowling completely, with Ravi Shastri and Bharat Arun on the sidelines, Kohli had a major part in laying down the foundation that lasts to this day.

If the COVID-19 break was the beginning of the second half of the bell curve, the graph entered free fall after his captaincy stint. Once owning the format, Kohli did not seem to have the same command over it anymore. Struggling against spinners in the rank turner pitches at home, and failing to conquer his off-stump demons away, took a serious toll on him.

In the end, the Perth hundred during the 2024-25 Border-Gavaskar, meant to be a revival of sorts, ended up being the final flicker of the candle, before it went out.

Looking clueless against Scott Boland as the series progressed turned out to be the final nail in the coffin. The series in fact marked yet another instance of being a graveyard of sorts, with it bringing upon the end of R Ashwin and Rohit Sharma's careers as well.

Test cricket will remain indebted to Virat Kohli

A sport's fate is dictated by how its biggest face feels, thinks, and talks about it. In an age where cricketers are dropping out of their national central contracts to focus on the lucrative world of franchise cricket, Kohli had a massive responsibility on his shoulders, and he lived up to it.

His actions and words had a massive bearing not only on those who were involved in the game at present, but for those ones aspiring to take it up. Kohli ramped up Test cricket at every possible avenue, lived up to his words, made the format interesting to revive it, and left it in a relatively healthy state.

"I think World Test Championship as an ICC tournament should be right up there. All the other tournaments for me they start under that. This is probably the biggest of them all as every team wants to make it to the final at the Lord’s. We are no different," Kohli had said back in 2020 (via The Indian Express).

Statements like these, coming from a figure like Kohli, amplified the importance of Test cricket, which no level of marketing or persuading could have achieved. Yes, England and their traditionalists still revere the format with their English summer season and their esteemed County Championships, but would that have proven to be influential for Test cricket on a global scale? Absolutely not.

Right now, despite franchise leagues dominating the cricketing calendar, there is still enough space for Test cricket through the WTC. Although it has its flaws, but even the fact that red-ball cricket has a major tournament in an age of short attention spans and boundary enthusiasts is a testament to Kohli's sincere work as an ambassador.

His mere appearance in a Ranji Trophy game had filled the Arun Jaitley Stadium not so long ago. Although it might not be as glamorous as the other innumerable feathers he has on his cap, it is one that he can be absolutely proud of.

One knew that when Kohli spoke about Test cricket, it was from the heart, and not as a medium for the ICC, who also wish to keep it intact.

Virat Kohli's tap-out will send reverberations through Indian cricket

Indian cricket has earned the right to be arrogant and have the mentality of replacing pretty much everyone, irrespective of their stature. But this might just be where the line is drawn, because Kohli was perhaps the only player whose mere presence could compensate for the lack of runs.

His experience, aura, and skill would still have been undoubtedly an asset for the team. The wealth of guidance that he would have imparted on the upcoming talent, especially overseas in the next WTC cycle, would have meant a much smoother transition. But now, there is just a wobbly, uncertain feeling.

Kohli's retirement now throws India into a vexing conundrum. The odds are, given how strongly Indian cricket is placed at the minute, that success will continue, but Kohli's absence in such moments will be haunting to a degree.

In hindsight, should the voices of cricket been kinder to the legends who have chosen to bow out ungracefully? The timing of their retirements, and the manner of it, speak volumes.

Three legendary names like R Ashwin, Rohit Sharma, and Virat Kohli retiring in such a short span is a major sign as to how harshly the players are treated.

If you were to travel even five years back, let alone ten, and recount how Kohli has bowed out of Test cricket (with context, of course), you would be pelted with stones. His relinquishing of captaincy was a massive statement; his retirement is even a bigger one.

Every piece of criticism, every troll post, every snarky remark takes a toll on these figures. The fact that they do not show it or speak about it does not mean that they are unaffected, nor is it an incentive to keep the cynicism going.

Every time India steps out in whites in the future, every time the format needs a voice, every time India are 20-2 on a green pitch in some corner of the world, there will be the soft voice of Pink Floyd's David Gilmour warbling, 'Did you exchange a walk-on part in the war for a lead role in a cage? How I wish, how I wish you were here.'

A king is incomplete without his crown, but if Kohli is satisfied with a sceptre that could have been a mace, then so should we. For a figure who has carried the team, been a shield for his team, copped unjustified criticism at times, been a flag-bearer for the format for years on end, he is allowed to bow out with grace at the time and place of his choosing.

But, at the same time, fans also have the right to grieve and wonder about a future that could have been had fate intervened with good intentions.