Virat Kohli retires: He never gave up until one day he did

Within days of Rohit Sharma calling time on his Test career, Virat Kohli too followed suit and retired before next month's tour to England.

- GNS News Agency

Was he quick to read the room after the abrupt end to Rohit’s Test innings? With talk of Shubman Gill's early coronation at 25 did he sense palace intrigue and a subtle signal to him? Or was it the case of the 36-year-old father of two no longer having that famous drive in him to deal with the demons in the head that mess up your muscle memory?Informing the world about his decision to quit on social media he wrote: “The quiet grind, the long days, the small moments that no one sees but that stay with you forever. As | step away from this format, it's not easy — but it feels right. I've given it everything | had, and it's given me back so much more than | could've hoped for.”

Five Tests in England can be daunting for a batsman who these days isn’t sure where his off-stump is — he got out poking at the ball 7 times in his last five-Test series in Australia — and had barely survived the same trauma in the past. Was it why he gave up and did the first, and probably the last, un-Kohli act of his glittering career littered with many moments of incredible mental strength and undying conviction in his skills.Not really. The batting great can’t be judged so harshly. It is those good old Kohli days that will define his legacy and get talked about for generations. This England miss, actually a judicious ‘well left’, is just another grim reminder to the reality of aging and the finite problem-solving capacities of the human mind. Virat still has a sculpted body. Those six-packs that send every young cricketer to the gym these days are still in place. Even in his mid-30s, he is a Bolt between wickets. But the fittest too can get jaded, the driven too slow down and even Kings call it a day.