'Not like they wanted to leave': Ex-India bowler drops bombshell on Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma retirements

Former Indian cricket legends Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma recently announced their retirements from Test cricket within a five-day gap, breaking the traditional pattern of gradual transitions in Indian cricket. Former Indian cricketer Karsan Ghavri has claimed that internal politics within the BCCI and the selection committee led by Ajit Agarkar forced both players to retire prematurely, despite their desire to continue playing the longest format.

The retirement announcements came unexpectedly, with Rohit first announcing his departure through an Instagram Story, followed by Kohli's official announcement two days later through an Instagram post.




The sudden retirements raised questions among fans and cricket observers, especially given that both players had indicated plans to continue in Test cricket. Kohli had returned to play Ranji Trophy for Delhi and expressed intentions to score multiple centuries in England, while Rohit had discussed his anticipation for the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy in conversations with Michael Clarke during the IPL break.

Karsan Ghavri, who played 39 Tests and 19 ODIs for India and opened bowling with Kapil Dev in the 1970s, has provided insights into the situation through his statements on the Vickey Lalwani Show.

"He [Kohli] should have definitely continued playing for India easily, probably for another couple of years. But something really forced him to retire. And unfortunately, when he retired, he was not even given a farewell by the BCCI. Such players, such a great player who has done such great service to BCCI, India cricket and Indian fans, should be given a grand and fabulous farewell."

Kohli concluded his Test career as India's fourth-highest run-getter, falling short of 10,000 runs in the format. During his 14-year career, he became India's most successful Test captain with 40 wins, including India's first series victory in Australia during the 2018-19 Border-Gavaskar Trophy.

Rohit Sharma's Test career experienced a revival after he began opening in September 2019, though it never reached the heights of Kohli's achievements.

"It's due to internal politics within the BCCI, which is hard to understand. And I think this is the reason he retired prematurely. Even Rohit Sharma retired prematurely. They were asked to go out. It's not like they wanted to leave. They wanted to continue. But the selectors and BCCI had different ideas. It was a matter of some kind of petty politics," Ghavri stated.

This departure marks a significant shift from the traditional retirement pattern in Indian cricket, where players like Sourav Ganguly, Rahul Dravid, VVS Laxman, Sachin Tendulkar, and Virender Sehwag retired gradually over several years between 2008 and 2014.
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