Virat Kohli was 'mentally fried; the hunger was not the same': Ravi Shastri's bombshell on Test retirement
Ravi Shastri said Virat Kohli was "mentally fried" and this is why he decided to retire from Test cricket.
Former India head coach Ravi Shastri said Virat Kohli was “mentally fried,” and this is the main reason behind the latter's retirement in the longest format of the game. The Indian superstar, who represented India in 123 Tests, announced his retirement earlier this week. The decision surprised several within the cricketing fraternity. Kohli's announcement came just days before the upcoming five-match Test series between India and England.
Kohli finished his Test career 770 runs short of the 10,000-run mark. He is India's fourth-highest run-scorer in the longest format, only behind Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, and Sunil Gavaskar.
The 36-year-old is also the most successful Indian Test captain, having led the team to 40 wins during his tenure.
While speaking at a rain delay during the IPL 2025 fixture between Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) and Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium, Shastri said Kohli was mentally fatigued as he had a lot to deal with under his captaincy tenure with India.
Speaking on the official broadcast, Shastri said, “I think it was more mental fatigue. We all know how fit he is, and it can take its toll. You know, don't forget you mentioned his captaincy. When you captain a country for five-six-seven years across formats of the game and a country which has a following like India does. 1.5 billion, the population.”
“Everyone loves cricket. It's like religion and to do the job for that length of time. It will take its toll whether you like it or not. It's a different lifestyle, you at times have to leave your game on the side. It's press conferences,” he added.
‘Things you have to do for the media’
Shastri also reckons that during his captaincy tenure, Kohli had a lot to deal with as it was just not a matter of making the decisions on the field. The former India coach who oversaw India's Border-Gavaskar Trophy win in 2018-19 and 2020-21 said that an Indian captain has to do things for the BCCI and ICC when they are in charge of the team.
"Things you have to do for the media. Things you have to do for the BCCI. Things you have to do for the ICC when you're playing ICC tournaments as a captain. It doubles up, triples up at times, then the press conferences on great days. When you had great days on the field. I mean, when your back is up the is to the wall, and then you got to go out there and speak and answer the questions after a while, you know, it takes its toll," he said.
It was then that Shastri said he thought Kohli was mentally drained as fatigue had crept in. Hence, he decided to end his glorious Test career.
"So I thought he was mentally fried. That fatigue was there that probably the hunger was not the same, and probably sometimes your mind tells you to know, 'Will you be able to play with the same kind of intensity, same kind of passion?' Same kind of hunger that you exhibited three or four years ago. And when your mind tells you no then it doesn't matter what your body is thinking. It's the mind," said Shastri.
Earlier, while speaking to ICC, Shastri had revealed Kohli spoke to him before announcing his Test retirement. Kohli's last Test assignment was the Border-Gavaskar Trophy against Australia, where he scored 190 runs in 9 innings, including one century.
Kohli had a dry spell in Tests for the last five years, scoring just four centuries. This torrid run led to Kohli's average falling down from 55 to 46.85.
