Former Indian captain Krishnamachari Srikkanth revealed that if Virat Kohli hadn’t quit from Test cricket, he would have persuaded the renowned batsman to lead the Indian side and restore the glory. However, the star batsman shocked Srikkanth and everyone else on Monday, May 12, by announcing his retirement on social media.

Virat’s exceptional talent and promise as a young player had convinced Srikkanth to include him in India’s Test team for their 2011–12 tour of Australia. The decision was carried out by Srikkanth, the selection committee chairman at the time,

When Virat Kohli made a powerful impression upon his arrival in whites in 2012 by scoring his first century Down Under.

He had a unique gift. Virat was exceptional, in my opinion, because we all appreciated his honesty, moral character, and overall traits. He was a pretty diligent boy back then as well. We all recognised his great potential, which is why we selected him for the Australian series before anyone else,” Srikkanth announced.

Naturally, when choosing a young person to serve as a selector, you always do it with the expectation that he would achieve tremendous success in the future. No one, however, gave this much thought. The cricket player from Chennai continued, “And the rest is history.”

In addition to stating that he would have spoken with the great player to restore the honour to India’s Test cricket system before retiring from the format, the 65-year-old further stated that the selectors need to have persuaded the top-order batter.

“If I were the chairman right now, I would tell them, ‘You lead the team, revive Indian Test cricket, and then quit.'” They ought to have persuaded him. If I had been present, I would have asked him to lead India in England. Restore the splendour of India’s Test cricket history and retire. He remarked, “That would have made it the ideal conclusion.”