Mental Burnout Might Have Led To Kohli's Test Retirement, Feels Ashwin

Legendary India cricketer Ravichandran Ashwin believes mental burnout could have played a notable part in Virat Kohli stepping away from Test cricket at 36, despite still being one of the fittest players in the world. 

On May 12 (Monday), Kohli hung up his boots from the longest format of the game, and the announcement came as a shock despite the right-hander’s indifferent form in red-ball cricket. With Rohit Sharma retiring, Kohli was primed to mentor a young-ish-looking side in England, but instead joined Rohit and walked away from the format. 

Kohli was always known for his energy, and Ashwin reckoned that years of being ultra-intense could have resulted in Kohli getting burnt out.

“What made him stand out was his crazy energy levels - whether it be batting, captaincy or just being a competitor. Sometimes I just wanted to ask Virat, 'What did you even have for breakfast today?',” Ashwin said on his YouTube channel.

“But I can't help but feel if Virat had 1 or 2 more years [of Test cricket] left in him. That particular question has been running in my head for a while now. Could his energy levels have led to this retirement? Maybe he felt that he no longer has the mental capacity to go at full throttle every single minute.”

Kohli was an unstoppable run-machine during peak, but he endured a significant dip post the pandemic, averaging just over 30 since the start of 2020. Still, Ashwin reckoned that, even when Kohli was out of form, he found ways to make the team tick through his presence and energy.

“The search for excellence can sometimes result in your undoing in sport. Sometimes the benchmark you set for yourself can come back to haunt you. From the team perspective, even his 'reduced' benchmark proved to be effective,” Ashwin said. 

“You can't buy something like experience. The 'been there, done that' factor is invaluable. And Virat, even when he was out of form with the bat, his energy was invaluable to the side.”