How does a highly successful international team cope when its iconic talisman retires? The Indian Test Cricket Team is about to find out!
36-year-old former captain Virat Kohli has announced his retirement from Test cricket, just weeks before the team travels to England to play a five-test series starting in June.
It is difficult to overestimate how popular and revered Kohli is in India – his surprise announcement was made on Instagram, where he has an incredible 270 million followers. It has been reported that he is able to command a fee of $1.1million for each sponsored post on the platform, just one of the many reasons to justify his informal moniker of ‘King’.
Kohli is a magnificent cricketer, and his retirement has left Indian cricket in a state of bewilderment. In his 91 tests he scored 9,230 runs at an average 46.85., including 30 centuries. These figures make him a legend in the game, but it is his wider impact on Indian cricket and society in general that has made him so popular. As Captain between 2015 and 2022, Kohli had an impressive record, winning 40 of his 68 matches in charge, losing 17 and drawing 11. More importantly he made Indian cricket authorities put more emphasis on the traditional test cricket, increasing fitness levels and performances after many years of decline and bringing back a winning mentality into the team, to the delight of the nation.
Kohli made a billion Indians believe in their national cricket team, and his departure closes the chapter on arguably the most transformative figure in Indian cricket. In addition to scoring runs he challenged conventions and turned India into a team of winners. As Australian great Greg Chappell said: “his departure leaves not only a statistical void but a seismic shift in energy – for there has never been another quite like him.”
On the field, India will have to find a new number 4, traditionally the position that is reserved for the team’s best batter. Kohli has batted at number 4 for over a decade, and the team selectors will be prioritising the decision on who should replace him.
However, the impact of the retirement isn’t confined just to India. In a year without the Olympics or the FIFA World Cup, the England and Wales Cricket Board will have been viewing the forthcoming test series as an ideal opportunity to put Test Cricket at the forefront of the sporting summer. Losing out on having the sport’s highest profile player displaying his talent over two months around the country will not help ticket sales or the general anticipation for the series.
But, for those English fans bemoaning the opportunity to ever see Kohli play the long form of the game again in England, there may be a glimmer of hope. While Kohli has retired from Test cricket he hasn’t confirmed his retirement from first class cricket, and this fact hasn’t gone unnoticed by the ever-ambitious Middlesex County Cricket Club.
Kohli has a home in London, and it is believed that the lure of playing at Lord’s, the home of cricket, could be enough to tempt him over to play for Middlesex in the second half of the season. Middlesex have already signed New Zealand superstar Kane Williamson for this season and are building a reputation for putting together galácticos style squads.
As ever, a deal to bring Kohli over this summer would not be altruistic. Were a contract to be negotiated, Middlesex would expect to attract bumper crowds at Lord’s, and with Kohli’s global social media following the county (and English domestic cricket overall), it would receive unprecedented exposure to new markets. King Kohli may be in the process of abdicating, but he might just have one last shot at conquering English County Cricket.
David Little is a Partner at Bishop & Sewell in our expert Sports Law and Corporate & Commercial teams.
If you would like to contact him, please call on either 07968 027343 or 020 7631 4141 or email: company@bishopandsewell.co.uk.
The above is accurate as at 21 May 2025. The information above may be subject to change. The content of this note should not be considered legal advice, and each matter should be considered on a case-by-case basis.
