R Ashwin's Virat Kohli tribute: 'India will miss the Test batsman, the captain and the soldier...'

A lot can be said about his batting but what stood out about him was his energy levels. His energy levels in his batting, captaincy, competitiveness... Sometimes I would be tempted to ask him ‘what did you eat today before coming to the game?!”

- GNS News Agency

But the retirement does raise a question in me: Did Virat Kohli have one or two years more of Test cricket in him? Was his energy levels a reason? Did he think.."hey I don’t have the mental capacity to handle it.” To fight fight fight.. not many speak about it but the search for excellence is set by the personal benchmark set by ourselves. People will criticise us based on the benchmarks set by oneself. But looking at it from team’s point of view, that reduced benchmark can also be a useful thing in the bigger picture. Sometimes as they say you can’t buy experience - that’s been there, done that. I can tell you even when Virat kohli wasn't playing, his energy in mid-wicket, short cover, slip would be missed. It’s not as if he would suggest something and the wicket would fall. But his presence and involvement in the game mattered.I remember a Test in Edgbaston (2018) where he played a great knock. He was dropped at slips, then an outstanding hundred. Also an impact knock in the second innings.. we lost that game closely.. but apart from his knocks what I remember was the bowling in the first innings. Joe Root was batting superbly. Virat ran back from short midwicket frantically - there was a fielder at cow corner - and he actually fell down while retrieving and throwing the ball. The ball would fall on the stumps and Root was run out. Sorry if am mistaken about the batsman if it was Root or Bair