Virat Kohli announced his retirement from Test cricket on Monday (May 12) after a 14-year-old career that saw him become among India's greatest players in red-ball cricket and leave a legacy that will be remembered for ages to come.

The 36-year-old announced his decision through an Instagram post and revealed it was not an easy decision to take, but one that is the right call. The Indian cricket legend made his debut in 2011 against the West Indies. Kohli's retirement brings an end of an era for Indian cricket after Ravichandran Ashwin and Rohit Sharma also called it quits.

India's Fourth-Highest Run-Getter: Virat Kohli finished his Test career with 9230 runs at an average of 46.85. The 36-year-old finished as India's fourth-highest run-getter in history behind Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, and Sunil Gavaskar.

30 Test Centuries: Kohli's tally of 30 Test centuries is also the fourth most by a batter in Test cricket history for India behind Tendulkar, Dravid, and Gavaskar. It is the 15th most by a player in history and more than Don Bradman.

Asia's Greatest Captain: Virat Kohli is the most successful Indian and Asian Test captain, having led India in 68 matches with 40 victories. MS Dhoni (27) was the second-best among Asian captains, while Misbah-Ul-Haq (26) is third. Sourav Ganguly (21) is the only Indian captain with more than 20 wins. Across the world, only Greame Smith (53) and Ricky Ponting (48) more matches.

World's Finest Captain: Virat Kohli's Win Percentage In Test Cricket (58%) is the second best in the world in history, only behind Ricky Ponting (62.33).

Virat Kohli Best after Don Bradman and Sunil Gavaskar: Virat Kohli is only the third player in history to score more than 600 runs in a bilateral Test series as captain after Don Bradman (third) and Sunil Gavaskar.

Virat Kohli, The Leader Who Led From The Front - Virat Kohli led the team from the front and has the most runs by an Indian captain in Test cricket. He scored 5864 runs while leading the side at an average of 54.80. Across the world, only Smith, Ponting, and Border scored more runs as captains. His tally of 20 test centuries as captain is better by only Smith (25).

Virat Kohli, The Serial Double Centurion: Virat Kohli scored seven double centuries in Test cricket, which is the most by an Indian player in history. In the format's 147-year-old history, only Bradman (12), Kumar Sangakkara (11), Brian Lara (9) had more. Infact, Kohli's tally of six double ton in 18 months (2016-20187) is only better by Don Bradman, who crossed the milestone seven times from a period starting in July 1939.

Virat Kohli, The First Indian To Rare Double Century Feat - Virat Kohli was the first Indian to score back-to-back double centuries in a series against Sri Lanka in 2017. He was the second player after Vinod Kambli score double tons in two consecutive Test matches. Later, Yashasvi Jaiswal also joined in the rare list following his heroics against England in 2024.

Virat Kohli, The King Of Australia - Virat Kohli had seven Test centuries in Australia, which is the joint second-most by an away player, only behind Jack Hobbs, who played his last Test match in 1930, making the Indian cricket legend the best visiting player on Australian soil in the last century.

Virat Kohli Dominates Australia And England - Virat Kohli is only the second visiting player in history to score more than 500 runs in a Test series in both Australia and Englnad after Rahul Dravid.

Virat Kohli, The First Asian Captain To Conquer Australia: India's victory in the 2018-19 Border-Gavaskar Trophy (BGT) made Kohli the first-ever Asian captain to win a Test series on Australian soil. No Asian team had ever won a red-ball series down under before. Later, Ajinkya Rahane joined the rare list.

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