Former Pakistan captains Javed Miandad and Shahid Afridi paid rich tribute to Virat Kohli, who announced his retirement from the traditional format last month.

Kohli’s decision to call it quits came ahead of the England tour. He was expected to travel to UK for the upcoming five-Test series that will mark the beginning of India’s new WTC cycle. It was also reported that the BCCI officials were in talks with the stalwart 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".

Miandad and Afridi hailed Kohli’s legacy and questioned his sudden retirement decision. The 1992 World Cup-winner also speculated that there might be more to the story as he expected the Indian talisman to play for a few more years.

“There’s no denying that Kohli has been a modern-day great, a match-winner, and a fine captain. For him to leave the game he loved so suddenly suggests there’s more to the story. In my view, he could have easily played until the end of 2027. Sure, he had a rough patch, but show me a great batsman who hasn’t,” Miandad was quoted as saying to Telecom Asia Sport.

“You can say a lot about Kohli — he’s been fiery, sometimes controversial — but you can’t deny what he’s done for Indian cricket. He gave his all for the team and won matches single-handedly. Players like him are rare, and they deserve to be treated differently. He used to be hot-headed. I remember even Sunil Gavaskar once asked the BCCI to rein him in. But since his marriage, he’s matured a lot. He deserved more respect,” Afridi 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.

Having retired from T20Is last year, Virat Kohli will now focus solely on the One-Day International format.