Kohli’s decision to call it quits came ahead of the England tour.
Kohli’s decision to call it quits came ahead of the England tour. He was expected to travel to UK for the five-Test series, which got underway on June 20 in Leeds. It was also reported that the BCCI officials were in talks with the talisman to make him change his mind, but they couldn’t succeed.
On May 12, Kohli took to social media and stated that the decision to give up the format he loved most was "not easy, but it feels right".
Speaking to PTI, Ganguly said Kohli knew his time was up and he made the call himself, without any external pressure.
“I would say it’s very irrelevant. My terms, someone else’s terms. As a player, you understand. As a player, everyone understands where he stands at the moment. Just look at Virat," Ganguly stated.
“Everybody says Why. I know he didn’t have the best five years in Tests, but champions like him rediscover themselves. And I guarantee that if he were on this tour of England, he would have scored runs. But he felt it was time to go," he added.
Kohli’s decision left quite a few people surprised, including Ganguly, considering that he had already retired from T20Is and was expected to continue in Tests for a few more years,
“Everything has to come to an end. A lot of us were surprised by Virat Kohli’s retirement. Just 36 years old. Fit, although he still plays IPL and ODIs, it is never the same. You have to finish playing someday, and for me, I thought it was the best time for me to finish, and I did," Ganguly said.
Virat Kohli, who made his Test debut in 2011, played an instrumental role in India's red-ball resurgence over the past decade with his aggressive captaincy, prolific batting and unmatched intensity on the field.
Under his captaincy, India were competitive everywhere and registered their maiden Test series triumph on Australian soil in 2018-19.
Overall, Kohli led his country in 68 Test matches and suffered defeat in only 17 of them. With 40 wins and 11 draws, he boasts a remarkable win percentage of 58.82, making him the most successful Test captain in India's history.
The 36-year-old finished his Test career with 9230 runs from 123 matches at an average of 46.85, including 30 centuries and 31 fifties, with the highest score of 254.