CRICKET POLL

Virat Kohli has caused a stir in India and world cricket with his announcement of retirement from Test cricket. Having already stepped away from T20Is, the Monday morning declaration is, for all practical purposes, a near-total superannuation from international cricket, more so because India play very few ODIs these days.

Quite a few factors are at play here. When he took over as the captain of the Indian team in the middle of a series in Australia in 2014, he was thrown in the deep end. Such were the challenges he thrives on, and he was practically ready for all of them. Once he got settled into the role, he held a series of meetings with the Indian team think tank - the BCCI, the coach, chief selector, and senior players - to strategize and chart a course to make India the No. 1 Test team in the world.

There was particular emphasis on the bowlers, and he wanted certain types of them so that he can win Tests overseas. This was a big challenge, and he was willing to accept it. He wanted to be pushed into a corner, but he wanted to make India great and make India great again in Tests. For three years in a row, India won the ICC World Test Mace - in 2017, 2018 and 2019. There were also wins overseas (twice in Australia), once in England (the series later got drawn after India played the Covid-affected fifth Test a year later), and he had come close to beating South Africa in South Africa.

But for the last three years, his performance graph started dipping - just 93 runs in three home Tests against New Zealand late last year and 190 runs in the five away Tests in the BGT series in Australia. Since 2022, in 37 Tests, he has managed 1990 runs at an average of just about 32. He was falling way below the high standards he had set for himself. That was not acceptable to him.

He wanted to be challenged for self-discovery or resurgence. Under the new and current dispensation, he was apparently not getting the freedom, right environment and right vibes from the powers that be, something that is in stark contrast to the previous dressing room atmosphere.

The past coaches are gone, and most of those players are also gone. The team is in a kind of transition, and Kohli, perhaps, would have continued if he had been given the responsibility and challenge of anchoring the transition. But the captaincy was not coming his way. He last led India in the Cape Town Test in 2022.

In a recent television interview, Gautam Gambhir was asked if he had an opportunity to enter a cricketer's body, who it would be? The answer was Virat Kohli. The history between the two Delhi boys goes back a long way, and those close to the Indian team dressing room say there was not much bonding. Test cricket is a long format, and players stay together for a great number of days. It is important that the environment is good there, and those who know Kohli say he was not too happy.

Is there a link with the recent retirement of Rohit Sharma? Prima facie, sources say, no. Both are surely not the best of friends, but certainly respectful of each other. Maybe, if the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) had delayed the transition at least till after the England series, for which a youngster like Shubman Gill is expected to be handed the reins, things would have been different. Perhaps! But the counter view to this impression is equally valid - with a new cycle of the World Test Championship (WTC) starting with the England series, the team management wanted more permanence rather than an interim arrangement.

It is understood that Kohli spoke to Ravi Shastri, his friend, philosopher, guide and mentor, before taking the call, and the buzz around the ecosystem is that he had decided to leave Test cricket a long time ago. He was to speak to Jay Shah, the former BCCI secretary, too, but one is not sure if that conversation has happened at all. There was to be a meeting between him and Rajeev Shukla, an influential figure in the BCCI. But that may not have taken place because of the recent border tensions. It is understood that he spoke to the chief selector, Ajit Agarkar, at least twice on the phone in recent times.

Who and what next?

Rishabh Pant is an option for the captaincy, but the selectors are believed to have zeroed in on Gill for the role. So the other big question is who will bat at No. 4? Pant would have been an option, but the talk is that the selectors are looking for a new opener to partner Yashasvi Jaiswal. If they succeed, then KL Rahul would bat at No. 3 and Gill at No. 4, or the other way round. These are important decisions to be made by the BCCI before the announcement of the squad, likely on May 23.

Meanwhile, word from England is that Ben Stokes and his team are preparing intensely for the upcoming five-Test marquee series, while the Indian players remain engaged in the IPL. A training camp in Loughborough is set to begin this week, followed by a four-day Test against Zimbabwe starting next Thursday at Trent Bridge. The new Indian captain could find himself thrown in at the deep end of an ocean like Kohli was. Will he rise to the challenge?