Former Indian batter Manoj Tiwary joined experts like Ravi Shastri and Sanjay Bangar as he believes Virat Kohli had a lot of cricket left in him after the talisman announced his Test retirement. Tiwary, the former Bengal cricketer, reckons Kohli could have played for a couple of years more and shared his surprise regarding the batter’s decision.

The Indian veteran amassed 9230 runs in 123 Test matches at an average of 46.85, including 30 centuries. Kohli led India in 68 Test matches, winning 40, drawing 11 and losing 17, and thus he is regarded as one of India’s most successful Test captains.

“Sometimes you face a time when a brain fade can happen and you make a decision. It’s possible he had that too. There’s a lot of cricket left in him. He was too close to 10,000 runs. Although it might not be important to him, a lot of young cricketers dream of making their name in Test cricket and reaching that milestone. He had a good chance. I don’t know what happened or what went wrong that he made this decision,” Tiwary said on Cricbuzz.

Kohli became the first Indian captain to lead India to series win while playing on the Australian soil on the 2018-19 tour. He played an instrumental role in strengthening India’s pace battery.

Meanwhile, Tiwary wishes that Kohli takes a U-turn on his Test retirement.

“I felt a bit sad. In an era where T20 cricket is racing ahead, Kohli has kept Test cricket alive. He could have easily not given it the required importance. But he kept Test cricket as a priority always. We saw that in his captaincy, too. I’ll ask him to close his eyes and take the retirement back as soon as possible. It’ll bring back the happiness on the faces of all cricket fans. Even I did that. I took back retirement from first-class cricket after just five days and then played for Bengal, trying to win the Ranji Trophy,” Tiwary stated.

Kohli is currently playing for RCB in the ongoing IPL 2025.