Cricket
oi-Gaurav Sharma
Former India cricketer Wasim Jaffer has expressed his opinion that Virat Kohli could have been handled differently in terms of his leaving test cricket. The former batter feels that the way it happened was a shock for everyone including Kohli himself and his contributions in the longest version of the game could have been more.
Speaking on his YouTube channel, Jaffer expressed that Kohli was not at all happy with the developments that took place and he had the potential to play test cricket for a long time.
Former cricketer Wasim Jaffer feels Virat Kohli’s May 12, 2025, retirement from Test cricket was poorly handled by the board and selectors, suggesting communication issues surrounding his potential exclusion from the England Tour 2025.
Jaffer added that Kohli was already preparing for England Tour 2025 and it becomes difficult to understand what exactly transpired between the board, selectors, and Kohli regarding his decision to quit test cricket.
“We will not be able to say exactly what happened till we actually hear from Virat himself what he wants us to understand,” said Jaffer while talking about Kohli’s decision to retire from test cricket.
The batter has struggled in the test matches over the past few years which raised doubts regarding his capability to lead India in the shortest format. However, Kohli batted in the Ranji Trophy match against Baroda in January 2025 for Delhi. This made people believe that the star batter intends to play more test matches. Later, he was supposed to report for the England tour 2025, however, the reports stated that selectors tried to convince Kohli to stay away from the tour, as they wanted a young captain to lead the team in the upcoming fixtures.
The reports mentioned that the board wanted a captain who can lead the team in the upcoming fixtures against England and South Africa. It was also mentioned that they would keep Kohli on standby and his inclusion solely depends on his performance like other specialist batters.
Kohli was not satisfied with the decision and he decided to stay away from the tour and no one was able to convince him otherwise. As a prominent figure in the cricketing world and the former test captain, Jaffer felt that Kohli was handled poorly by the selectors and the board.
Jaffer Talks of India’s Selection Policies
While speaking on his channel, Jaffer talked about the selection policies of the board and how some of the decisions turned out to be successful while a few were not.
The former batter mentioned that they have had a series of problems when it comes to choosing the correct players for the national team.
Jaffer also compared the performance of the Indian team in white-ball cricket with their test matches performance. He mentioned that everyone from the selectors to the players, and even the fans, holds the test captain and the coach responsible for their failures in the longest format.
“The fact remains that the selectors might choose the team but it is the captain and coach who decide the line-up and how well the players perform. I feel the selection process till now has been fair but there are a few things that could have been communicated better,” he added.
Virat Kohli Announces Retirement From Test Cricket
The 35-year-old batter had announced his decision to quit test cricket on May 12, 2025. Kohli scored a total of 9,230 runs in 123 test matches and 30 centuries to his name.
