Virat Kohli announced his retirement from Test cricket on May 12, Monday, with the cricketing universe still thinking about the resumption of IPL 2025.
Kohli's decision broke the internet, as fans of Indian cricket and Kohli could not quite digest this decision. That his decision comes just ahead of India's Test series against England makes the decision an even more surprising one.
Despite the best efforts from BCCI to make Kohli understand, the former Indian captain did not deter and finally decided to retire from the format on the brink of 10,000 Test runs.
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Virat Kohli Announces Test Retirement, Follows Rohit
However, Kohli, as he said in the past, never played for numbers or personal achievements. He always said that he would retire from cricket or a particular format the day he would not feel 100 percent.
Kohli retires from Indian cricket in the phase of transition, with several young players gradually gaining experience to handle the mantle of international cricket. Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli announced their Test retirements in a space of five days with the England series on the horizon.
Kohli retired with several batting records to his name in the format. He is the fourth-highest run-getter for India in Test cricket. He also scored the fifth-most runs at number four in Test cricket. He retired with seven double tons, the most by an Indian batter, and retired as the most successful Test captain with 40 wins from 68 Test matches as captain. In this article, we take a look at the top five highest scores of Virat Kohli in Test cricket.
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Virat Kohli's Top 5 Highest Test Scores
254* vs South Africa, 2019
This was Kohli's last and final double century of his Test career. His unbeaten 254 runs helped India post 601 runs for five wickets. He crossed 7000 Test runs during this knock, and it was this knock that laid the foundation of India's 137-run victory against the Proteas in Pune.
235 vs England, 2016
Kohli scored 235 runs off 340 balls vs England in Mumbai's Wankhede Stadium. His knock helped India overtake England's first innings score of 400 runs in the first innings. India posted 631 runs after being reduced to 364 runs for 7 wickets at one stage, with Jayant Yadav scoring his one and only Test match ton to help Kohli at the other end. His knock ensured an innings victory for India.
243 vs Sri Lanka, 2017
This was Kohli's second Test double ton against Sri Lanka in the same Test series in 2017. After scoring 213 runs in Nagpur, he bettered it with a 243 in Delhi. On the back of his double ton, India posted 536 runs for seven wickets. Sri Lanka responded with some resilient batting in both innings and the match ultimately ended in a draw.
213 vs Sri Lanka, 2017
After bowling out Sri Lanka for just 205 runs, India responded by scoring a mammoth 610 runs for 6 wickets declared in the first innings of the second Test against Sri Lanka in Nagpur. Murali Vijay and Cheteshwar Pujara scored centuries at the top of the order. Kohli smacked his fifth double century in Test cricket. The knock ensured India won by an innings and 239 runs in Test cricket.
211 vs New Zealand, 2016
This was Kohli's second Test ton and the second in 2016 in a space of three months. He scored his maiden double ton against the West Indies in July 2016 and his next century within three months, in October 2016. Kohli scored 211 runs off 266 balls in Indore. In this match, Ajinkya Rahane also scored his highest Test score of 188 runs off 381 balls. India piled up 557 runs in the first innings and ultimately won the match by 31 runs with some sublime batting from Kohli.
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