Follow UsVirat Kohli shocked the cricket world when he announced his Test retirement on May 12, ahead of the much-anticipated five-Test match series in England for which Kohli was also preparing.
However, his retirement put a full stop to all that. Now, after already retiring from T20I cricket, ODIs are the only format in which fans can see him play in India colours.
Despite that, his career in the Indian Premier League (IPL) is flourishing as always. He scored a fluid 43 off 25 (albeit in a losing cause) against Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) in Lucknow to show that the retirement hasn’t impacted his skills, and he continued to bat at a new, heightened tempo, which has defined his batting in the 2025 season of the IPL.
He remained his jolly self off the field as well, as he was seen laughing and hanging out with his teammates as usual in the content put up by RCB social media. The same was confirmed by RCB batting coach and Kohli’s former India and RCB teammate Dinesh Karthik, who said that Kohli has been at his happiest after the Test retirement.
“It came as a shock to the outside world, so we were just observing what Virat was up to,” Karthik said.
“He is at his happiest now - he's enjoying the sport, and he genuinely wants to spend more time with his family.
"It's a personal decision, and we respect it. Like everyone else, we were taken aback - 'Oh, this is happening.' But the fact is, it's great to see him happy and ready whenever we want him to play. The key is to keep him in good spirits.”
Kohli is currently sixth on the list of IPL top run scorers this season, and has smashed 548 runs at an average of 60.8, while striking at 145.35.