Sourav Ganguly has put an end to all rumours and speculations surrounding Virat Kohli's retirement, saying the former captain knew it was his time to leave the format. Kohli announced his retirement on May 12, four days after The Indian Express had reported that he had informed the BCCI of his decision to bring curtains down on a 14-year-long career. It also stated that the BCCI tried to convince Kohli otherwise, but Kohli made up his mind. However, as No. 269 signed off, multiple fan theories emerged that Kohli was pushed into retirement, more so because, despite enduring a poor series in Australia, he turned up to play Ranji Trophy for Delhi.
Weighing in on the same, Ganguly, who worked closely with Kohli during his time as president of the BCCI, emphasised that a player of Kohli's stature would know best where he and his form stand. He was just 36, and having already stepped away from T20Is, Kohli had at least a couple of years of cricket more in him. Like everyone, even Ganguly was taken aback by the decision to retire, but insisted that great players, irrespective of how pushed they are, take their own calls without any influence or pressure.
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"I would say it's very irrelevant. My terms, someone else's terms. As a player, you understand. As a player everyone understands where he stands at the moment. Just look at Virat. Everybody says why. I know he didn't have the best five years in Test cricket but champions like him rediscover. And I guarantee that if he was on this tour of England, he would have scored runs. But he felt it was time to go," Ganguly told PTI.
{{/usCountry}}"I would say it's very irrelevant. My terms, someone else's terms. As a player, you understand. As a player everyone understands where he stands at the moment. Just look at Virat. Everybody says why. I know he didn't have the best five years in Test cricket but champions like him rediscover. And I guarantee that if he was on this tour of England, he would have scored runs. But he felt it was time to go," Ganguly told PTI.
{{/usCountry}}Ganguly explained Kohli's retirement through his own experience. He was 37 years old when Ganguly retired from Test cricket. He never played T20Is and had not featured in an ODI for India for over a year. With the Indian team building towards the 2011 World Cup, younger, fresher and more dynamic players was the road ahead. Ganguly would have been 40, touching 41 by then, so while the fire inside never doused, the left-handed batter felt he'd done enough.
Since he was sacked as captain and subsequently dropped from the team, Ganguly was constantly under trial by fire, and hence, despite playing the best cricket of his life in 2006-2007 – he scored more ODI runs than any other Indian batter – Dada opted to leave with 'why' rather than 'why not'. Ganguly exited the stage because he knew it was his time, and he feels the same applies to Kohli.
'Just 36 years old': Ganguly surprised by Kohli's decision
"Everything has to come to an end. A lot of us got surprised with Virat Kohli retiring. Just 36 years old. Fit, although he still plays IPL and one-day cricket, it’s never the same," added Ganguly. "You have to finish playing someday, and for me, I thought it was the best time for me to finish, and I did."
Ganguly played his last for India in a Test match against Australia in Nagpur, getting out for a golden duck.