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File photo of Virat Kohli© AFP
Indian cricket team star batter Virat Kohli stunned everyone by announcing his retirement from Test cricket. Kohli, who is considered to be one of the best batters in modern cricket, retired from the longest format of the sport as India's successful captain. Overall, he was the fourth most-successful Test captain in the word before bidding farewell to the format. While a lot of speculation already exists over Kohli's decision, a report by Sports Today claimed that the BCCI hinted at appointing him captain once again but decided to not go ahead with the call. According to the report, Virat was given a hint that he can become the captain once again during the Border-Gavaskar Trophy against Australia.
“At least people close to him do seem to suggest that he was given sort of a hint that he would be getting captaincy after Adelaide. But then things changed," the report said.
However, following India's 3-1 loss against Australia in the five-match series, BCCI made a complete U-turn and reportedly decided to start the process to look for a young captain.
According to the report, Kohli was hopeful of becoming captain once again and that was one of the main reasons why he played the Ranji Trophy match for Delhi against Railways, as mandated by the BCCI.
Meanwhile, brought to a halt by the recent India-Pakistan border tensions, the IPL will resume on Saturday with Royal Challengers Bengaluru taking on Kolkata Knight Riders in a high-stakes contest where the spotlight will firmly be on Virat Kohli following his recent Test retirement.
The unexpected 10-day break has left both the RCB and the KKR with different goals to achieve and common challenges to hurdle over.
The RCB are second on the table with 16 points from 11 matches, and a win here can propel them to the playoffs.
KKR are sixth on the table with 11 points from 12 games, and a slip-up will evaporate the defending champions' hopes of making the knockouts.
(With IANS inputs)
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