India, May 17 -- Virat Kohli's retirement from Tests, which he announced this week, was sudden, but not really a surprise. The 36-year-old had been struggling in his favoured whites for some years and, given his extreme commitment to ironing out flaws, he must have reached the inevitable conclusion that his dip in form was not, in fact, a dip but a permanent loss.

He previously announced his retirement from T20 Internationals after lifting the 2024 T20 World Cup trophy, and even though he has not officially quit One-Day Internationals, given the minimal importance accorded to the format, it seems likely that we will never see Kohli represent India again.

Inarguably, he walks away a legend of the game, a man who has won everything and do...