Former India spinner Ravichandran Ashwin has shared his thoughts on Virat Kohli’s retirement from the traditional format, saying that the star batter still had one or two more years of Test cricket left in him and should have continued playing.

On Monday (May 12), Kohli took to social media to confirm his decision to quit Test cricket. This move comes days ahead of the announcement of India’s squad for the upcoming England tour.

"What made him stand out was his crazy energy levels-whether it be batting, captaincy, or just being a competitor. Sometimes I just wanted to ask Virat, 'What did you even have for breakfast today?'" Ashwin said while speaking on his YouTube channel.

"But I can't help but feel Virat had one or two more years [of Test cricket] left in him. That particular question has been running in my head for a while now. Could his energy levels have led to this retirement? Maybe he felt that he no longer has the mental capacity to go at full throttle every single minute," he added.

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.

Delving deeper into Kohli’s retirement call, Ashwin suggested that the relentless pursuit of excellence can sometimes take a toll on even the best athletes.

"The search for excellence can sometimes result in your undoing in sport. Sometimes the benchmark you set for yourself can come back to haunt you. From the team's perspective, even his 'reduced' benchmark proved to be effective," Ashwin remarked.

Having retired from T20Is last year, Virat Kohli will now focus solely on the ODI format of the game.