Former India cricketer and 2007 T20 World Cup hero Joginder Sharma believes Test stalwarts Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma, who recently bid adieu to the format, still have enough left in their tanks. Just over a month before India’s high-stakes tour of England, batting maestro Virat bid adieu to the Test format with a heartfelt note on Instagram last Monday, days after his long-time compatriot Rohit retired from the format. While looking at the future, he admitted their departure has left a void, but bench strength suggests India will recover from the massive loss.

“His (Virat Kohli) fitness and performance don’t indicate that this was the time. I believe he should have played, and even Rohit should have. A bad patch comes for everyone. The bench strength of our country suggests that we will recover the loss. It’s not that a legendary batsman might come or replace him, but cricket needs to be continued as needed,” Joginder told ANI.

Joginder cited Australia as an example and said that the Baggy Greens have still held the reputation of being one of the best in the world, even after the retirement of “greats”, and added, “Even Australia is considered one of the best teams, even after the retirement of great players.”

Virat’s 14-year journey in the whites transformed India into a result-producing machine. He infused aggression and the culture of fitness into a team riddled with youth and experience. In a career that redefined the demands of the game, Virat scored 9,230 runs at an average of 46.85, with 30 centuries and 31 fifties, and finished as India’s fourth-highest run-getter in the format.

Rohit called it a day in the Test format, ending his illustrious career with 4,301 runs at an average of 40.57, 12 centuries, and 18 half-centuries in 67 Tests.

Virat’s retirement from red-ball cricket marked the continuation of the exodus trend from the Test format in the Indian setup. Before the Indian batting bigwigs, the illustrious frontline off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin called it a day on his international career midway through the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in Australia.

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