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’60 overs, they should feel hell. ‘ On Virat Kohli’s Lord’s Stadium, these words are printed in the minds of every cricket fan and expert. In 2021, Team India had a challenge to allout England in 60 overs, playing for England draw. Then Virat said these words to his players and the team covered England in 52 overs. Under the captaincy, such words of Virat kept Team India number-1 for 5 consecutive years in Tests.
Virat said goodbye to his favorite format Test cricket on 12 May. They could not score 10,000 runs, but their aggressive approach made him immortal in Test history forever. Kohli is going to return to the Cricket Olympics after 128 years. It was he who gave cricket a distinct identity in the world.
How did Virat make Tests the best in the T20 era, how did cricket get a different identity in the world? Know in the story …
1. Test made the best in T20 era
Not a draw, play for victory
The Test retirement of 36 -year -old Virat was in a hurry in many cases, but in a 14 -year career, he did such feats that no other Indian captain could do in 93 years of history. Play to win, not a draw test. No records, focused on winning the match with 20 wickets. Not batting, strengthened the team with fast bowling and prepared a team that won abroad.
Virat Kohli conducted a Test captaincy for the first time in 2014 and scored 2 centuries on Australia’s Adelaide ground in the first match. They went to win the team, but lost the team as soon as they were out. In this series, MS Dhoni retired from the Test and Kohli got a permanent command. Kohli could not win the series, but he showed a glimpse of his attacking captaincy.
Virat Kohli celebrating his first Test century on the England ground in 2018. In the batting and captaincy, his agitation made him the best in the Test.
Not a single series lost in India
Under the captaincy of Virat, India did not lose a single Test series on the home ground from 2015 to 2021. He captained India in 11 domestic series and won all, he became the highest number of 24 Tests in India. Under his captaincy, the team lost just 2 matches. MS Dhoni and Rohit Sharma, who won the ICC Trophy to India in ODI and T20, also lagged behind Virat in this matter.
How will India dominate the world?
Virat Kohli said in 2017 that if India wants to show its dominance in cricket, then the team will have to become the best in the Test. Under the captaincy of Kohli, India again defeated Australia 2–1 on the same ground the next year. With this, he became the first captain of Asia to win the Test series in Australia. From here, he also started dominating India on foreign grounds.
India also won the Test series in Australia in 2020-21 under Kohli’s captaincy. The Kangaroo team could not defeat India for 10 years in any country. During this time India won 4 series. It was only after Kohli leaving the captaincy that Australia managed to defeat India in 2024-25.
Kohli again showed his dominance on the England tour in 2021. He won the team 2 out of 4 Tests, including the historic victory on the Lord’s ground. Where England were to score 272 runs in 60 overs, but the home team was playing for a draw. Then Kohli told his players an iconic line to ‘feel hell up to 60 overs’. India allotted England in 51.5 overs and won the match by 151 runs.
Won the most tests in SENA countries
Kohli won India 7 Tests in South Africa, Australia, New Zealand and England (SENA). He became the captain of Asia to win the most Tests among these countries. At number two is Wasim Akram of Pakistan, who won 4 matches to his team. Under the captaincy of Virat, the Indian team reached the final of the World Test Championship twice in a row.
Number-1 Test team for 42 months
Virat’s Test captaincy was also special because he always dreamed of keeping Team India at number-1 in the Test rankings and fulfilled it. When Kohli took over in 2015, the team was at number 7. From 2016 to 2021, the team ended the first number of years in the first number in the Test rankings. During this time, India was also number-1 in the Test for 42 consecutive months.
Kohli left the Test captaincy in January 2022, when the team was second. Now the team has slipped to number four after losing the series to New Zealand and Australia in 3 years. Not only this, for the first time in 6 years, the team could not qualify even in the final of the World Test Championship.
Viewers used to see the test in T20 era
It had been 7 years for IPL in 2015, the league reached the top of the world. The IPL also made the T20 format a favorite tournament of the audience. Amidst all this, Kohli’s aggressive captaincy, aggressive field placement and victory hunger diverted the attention of the audience to Test cricket. Whenever Kohli captained, not only India, in other countries of the world, crowds of spectators also gathered to watch Test cricket.
Around 90 thousand spectators reached the stadium to watch Virat Kohli’s last Test match at Melbourne Cricket Ground.
2. Cricket brought to Olympics
Olympic direct also Virat fan
On August 11 last year, the Olympic Committee director Nicolo Comprayani said, “Virat Kohli is the major reason for the involvement of cricket in the Olympics. He has more than 340 million (34 crore) followers on social media. He is the third most followed athlete in the sports world, which is more than the Combined Flaovers of Lebron James, Tom Brady and Tiger Woods.
Praising Kohli, Direct of the Olympic Committee said that this is the victory of both cricket and Olympics. With the help of cricket, Olympic access will also reach more audiences.
Virat Kohli is the third most followed athlete on Instagram. Footballer Leonal Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo are ahead of them.
Kohli took cricket to the Olympics with his social media presence, but retired from T20 and Tests 3 years before the games started in Los Angeles. He will now be seen playing only ODI cricket, in which it is also believed that he will take retirement after the 2027 ODI World Cup.
Viewers fill in the stadium by Virat’s name
Virat played his last Ranji Trophy match for Delhi in January this year. The stadium was filled with the audience to see it. There was no ticket fees for this match, but in international cricket, boards from all over the world sell the match tickets against India in the name of Kohli.
More than 15,000 spectators reached Delhi’s Arun Jaitley Stadium to watch Virat Kohli’s last Ranji Trophy match against the railway. (Photo Credit- The Hindu)
When Team India visited Australia in 2024-25, India’s captain was Rohit Sharma, but Kohli’s photos and news were at the top in all Australian TV channels and newspapers. Not only this, the official broadcaster was also attracting the audience by showing Kohli’s photo.
From June 20, India and England will have a 5 -Test series in England. The broadcasting rights of the series is with Sky Sports Channel. The channel also has a photo of Virat Kohli among 6 England players in the cover photo of its YouTube channel. Now Kohli will not play the series in England, but the England Cricket Board has sold all its Test tickets in his name.
Virat’s photo (second from left) on the cover page of YouTube channel of India-England Series official broadcaster Sky Sports Cricket.
Now it will be very important to see from here how the future of Test cricket without Virat will be. At the same time, Team India, which is going through a very bad phase in the last 1 year, will play red ball cricket from which mindset and approach. Will Team India be able to become number-1 in the Test again, if it is made then how much time will it take?
Virat’s Test career may remain incomplete to some extent, but the big achievement in a small career made him immortal in Test cricket forever.
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Read these news related to Kohli’s retirement too …
Did Virat retire in a hurry, Dravid 39, Tendulkar played up to 40
36 -year -old Virat Kohli retired from Test cricket on 12 May. If he had played 1-2 more years, he would have become India’s third top scorer in this format by scoring 10,000 runs, but Virat did not care for the record. Read full news
Record of 100 centuries unwavering due to Virat’s retirement
It is said that records are made to break. However, there are some records of cricket that become classical. Their breakdown is considered almost impossible. For example, after playing more than 50 Tests, Don Bradman’s average of 99.94. Muttiah Muralitharan’s record of 1347 wickets in international cricket. After retirement from Virat Kohli’s Test, Sachin Tendulkar’s record of 100 centuries can also be included in this list. Read full news