• Source:JND
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Virat Kohli has already retired from Test cricket, but the IPL chairman, Arun Dhumal, has come up with an interesting statement, urging the former Indian captain to reconsider his decision.

Kohli announced his retirement ahead of India's upcoming tour to England, with both teams set to face off in the five-match series, starting from June 20. The veteran batter put an end to his 14-year-long and stellar career. Having made his Test debut way back in 2011, Virat went on to represent India in 123 matches and scored 9230 runs at an average of 46.85. He smashed 30 centuries and 31 fifties.

Kohli is currently engaged in IPL 2025 and will soon be in action as the Royal Challengers Bengaluru made it to their first final since 2016. Dhumal lauded Virat's ever-improving fitness and compared his commitment to cricket with Roger Federer’s and Novak Djokovic’s to tennis. He also said he was hoping that Kohli won’t retire from IPL, too, if Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) manage to win the IPL 2025 title.

"Fitness that Virat has, he is probably fitter than he was in season 1," Dhumal told PTI Videos in an interview. "I want Virat to continue playing even after RCB wins the trophy. The whole country would want Virat to continue, and I would want him to reconsider his decision to retire from Test Cricket. I hope that he doesn’t take retirement from IPL, he is the greatest ambassador for the sport. His commitment to cricket is equivalent to what Roger Federer or Novak Djokovic is to Tennis, so I want him to continue," he added.

Dhumal was also asked about the future of the IPL, to which he reiterated the BCCI’s stance that there’s no team expansion planned in the near future.

"Phenomenal season, we had a break in between, given how the momentum has come back, it has been phenomenal, RCB has already qualified, and we are going to have a great final, we are now just two games away with one team lifting the trophy," he said. “There is no discussion about expansion of IPL in terms of number of teams, we just added 2 teams three seasons back, there is enough time for that, the quality of IPL is very high," he added.

RCB will play the final against the winner of the ongoing second Qualifier between Mumbai Indians and Punjab Kings in Ahmedabad.