• Source:JND
Add as a preferred

India vs England Test Series: Virat Kohli will not be a part of the Indian team in their upcoming tour to England, having already retired from Test cricket ahead of the all-important assignment.

The five-match Test series between India and England will kick off on June 20 in Leeds. India will be without their veteran stars like Virat, Rohit Sharma and Ravichandran Ashwin. Shubman Gill has become India's new Test captain as the chief selector named an 18-member squad for the England tour a few days back.

Ahead of the series, the former England spinner Monty Panesar has come up with an interesting take on Kohli's retirement from Test cricket. Panesar believes that Kohli bailed out of the five-match series as he was worried the team management would drop him mid-series.

"I think he was definitely going to play," Panesar was quoted by Hindustan Times. "I think England were expecting, everyone was expecting him to play. I’m surprised he’s kind of like bailed out. But maybe the fact that outside off-stump, he’s just thinking, well, you know, they may have had a word with him. They said, Look, if you don’t score well in the first couple of Test matches, don’t expect to play all five. So, he’s probably thinking, well, I’ll just call it a day and give the youngsters a go," he added.

Kohli's last Test appearance came during the Sydney Test in Australia as he decided to put an end to his 14-year-long and stellar career. He represented India in 123 Test matches, scoring 9230 runs at an average of 46.85. He smashed 31 fifties and 30 centuries in the format.

Notably, chief selector Ajit Agarkar mentioned that Kohli reached out to his committee in April to convey his decision to retire from Tests. Adding to it, some people close to him, like Delhi coach Sarandeep Singh, said the decision surprised them because Kohli was preparing to feature in the England Tests and had the hunger to score a ton of runs.