On May 12, 2025, Virat Kohli announced his retirement from Test cricket, concluding a 14-year career that transformed Indian cricket. With 9,230 runs in 123 Tests, 30 centuries, seven double-hundreds and an average of 46.85, Kohli’s legacy includes leading India to 40 Test victories as captain, the most by any Indian, and landmark series wins, such as the 2018/19 Border-Gavaskar Trophy in Australia.
His decision, timed ahead of a demanding England tour and following Rohit Sharma’s Test retirement, reflects a thoughtful exit to make way for a new generation. The mental toll of sustained scrutiny and the pressure to regain his peak form weighed heavily.
As emerging stars like Yashasvi Jaiswal and Shubman Gill signal a robust future, Virat Kohli’s exit marks the end of a golden era, leaving fans to cherish his contributions while pondering the factors behind his departure. Below, we delve into the statistical decline that played a pivotal role in his Test retirement.
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Also read: Virat Kohli's Top 5 Highest Scores In Test Cricket
Virat Kohli’s Performance Decline Post-2019 Leads to His Test Retirement
Kohli’s Test career was filled by remarkable consistency until 2019. In his debut year of 2011, he averaged 22.44 across five Tests, his only calendar year before 2020 with an average below 40.
From 2012 to 2019, his yearly average never dipped below 42.66, with standout years including 2016 (75.93 in 12 Tests), 2017 (75.64 in 10 Tests), 2018 (55.08 in 13 Tests), and 2019 (68.00 in eight Tests). His lowest averages in this period were 44.57 in 2014 and 42.66 in 2015, still reflecting his dominance.
However, post-2019, his form declined sharply. Since 2020, Kohli scored 2,028 runs in 39 Tests at an average of 30.72, managing only three centuries. His yearly averages further exemplifies this struggle: 19.33 in three Tests in 2020, 28.21 in 11 Tests in 2021, 26.50 in six Tests in 2022, and 24.52 in 10 Tests in 2024. A comeback in 2023, where he averaged 55.91 in eight Tests, proved temporary.
In the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25, his last Test series, Kohli scored just 190 runs in nine innings at an average of 23.75. He notched up century in Perth, which proved be his last in Test cricket, but a same pattern of dismissals followed, leading to excessive criticism.
This sustained lean patch, coupled with technical vulnerabilities against spin and seam, saw his career average drop to 46.85, likely influencing his decision to retire from Tests.
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Start of a New Era for India
Without Rohit and Virat, it is a new start of a new era for Indian Test cricket. While India have a readymade opener in KL Rahul to fill in Rohit's place, it will be interesting to see who replaces Kohli.
Rajat Patidar, Karun Nair, Shreyas Iyer, Sai Sudharsan and Sarfaraz Khan are a few of the options. With a five-match Test series versus England coming up, the team management will likely pick one of these batters as Kohli’s successor
The series between India and England will begin on June 20 at the Headingley, Leeds.
Also read: Top 5 Highest Run-Getters for India in Test Cricket ft. Virat Kohli
