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Recent comments by Virat Kohli on the RCB Podcast has reopened discussion on his sudden Test retirement his relation with Indian team management. Although Kohli did not name anybody explicitly a section of fans have already assumed from Kohli's comment that he was tired of the situation he was in before retiring from the longest format of the game.

Kohli retired from T20Is post T20 WC victory for India in 2024 and took retirement from Tests a couple weeks later, just as Rohit Sharma took retirement from T20Is. This took everyone by surprise, because Kohli has always been a true advocate for the Test format of the game and regards it as the highest form of cricket.

While talking in the Podcast Kohli said that people were trying to 'complicate' his scenario. A lot of speculations are going on regarding this people are saying it is hinting at a rift between Kohli and coach Gautam Gambhir or even chairman of selectors Ajit Agarkar.

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It can never be argued that Kohli is one of the greatest Test batsmen of all time. Even at present he is scoring freely in ODIs and IPL for RCB. But if we take a look at Kohli's stats in the latter phase of his Test career a different picture starts to emerge.

During the years from 2020 to 2025 Kohli scored just 2,028 runs in Test cricket at an average of 30.72. Though he played a few useful centuries during this period with a fantastic one against Australia in Perth in the Border-Gavaskar trophy prolonged periods of failure began to worry Indian selectors.

It was also difficult to compare Kohli's stats with that of some of his contemporaries in the Test arena. Joe Root managed to score 5,613 runs during the same period at an average of over 54, Williamson's average in Test cricket stood above 64 while Steve Smith had an average above 43.

Kohli's dismissals outside the off-stump during India's last few Test series especially in Australia were strongly reminiscent of his failures in England in 2014. Although Kohli had a couple of flashes of brilliance during this phase inconsistency plagued his Test career.

It was previously reported that management may have even spoken to him about his future before the start of the England tour. If this news is to be believed then the management might have even taken a long-term perspective over the legendary player.

Kohli's legacy will remain etched in Indian cricket forever, as he pushed boundaries when it came to fitness levels, approach, and Test cricket. But at the end of the day performance will always take centre-stage in modern cricket, and sometimes even the best players have to face the axe.