• India’s most successful Test captain Virat Kohli announced his retirement from the format on May 12.

• His retirement continues the exodus of Indian bigwigs from the Test arena. Ravichandran Ashwin and Rohit Sharma are the others to have called it quits in the format recently.

• The 36-year-old Kohli turned up in 123 Tests for India, scoring 9,230 runs with 30 hundreds and 31 half centuries at an average of 46.85.

• Since making his debut in 2011 as the nation’s Test cap number 269, Kohli captained India to the world number one position in the format and fetched a historic series triumph in Australia in 2018-19.

• In 68 Tests, India under Kohli, won 40, lost 17 and drew 11, making him the most successful for his country and fourth most successful overall, behind South African Graeme Smith, Ricky Ponting and Steve Waugh. 

• He also logged 20 hundreds as captain, making it the highest by an Indian in that position.

• His last Test assignment was a largely underwhelming tour of Australia in which he managed just one hundred. He ends his career well short of the 10,000 run mark.

• The right-hander nonetheless signs off as a giant of the format with seven double hundreds, the highest for an Indian and well ahead of the legendary quartet of Sunil Gavaskar (4), Sachin Tendulkar (6), Virender Sehwag (6) and Rahul Dravid (5).

• Kohli leaves as the fourth-highest scorer for India in tests behind Sachin Tendulkar (15,921), Rahul Dravid (13,265) and Sunil Gavaskar (10,122). 

• From 2016 to 2018, Kohli enjoyed a golden run in Tests, averaging over 75 for two consecutive years and scoring 14 of his 30 hundreds in these three years. 

• He stepped down from captaincy in 2022.

• He will now only be seen in ODIs, having already retired from T20 Internationals in 2024 after having a significant role in India’s T20 World Cup win in the Caribbean.

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