Virat Kohli retired from Tests in May 2025 [Source: AFP]Former Indian cricketer, Mohammad Kaif has dropped a bombshell on Virat Kohli, stating that the legendary cricketer retired from Test cricket because the people within the management had doubts over his ability, and he was not getting the importance or the backing.Kohli retired from Tests in May 2025 after a disastrous Australian tour, where he struggled for runs after a stellar century in Perth. The retirement came out of nowhere, as prior to the announcement, the player even went back to the domestic circuit to regain his lost form.Kaif drops bombshell on Kohli's Test retirement callMohammad Kaif reckons that Kohli felt dissatisfied with the management, and he believed they had lost faith in his red-ball abilities, which prompted him to announce his Test retirement.“When I look at his interviews about this, I feel like there is some disappointment on his face. Even if his form was bad, you are talking about Virat Kohli," Kaif said on his YouTube channel.“It seemed that he felt like he was not getting importance and backing and the people within had no faith in him. I still think if he would have continued, he would have definitely made a comeback. He is known for comebacks," he added.Kaif cites Kohli's ODI performance as an example of his comeback abilitiesJust like his Test dip, something similar happened to him on the Australian tour in 2025, but Kohli bounced back in style.Kaif pointed to Kohli’s ability to recover from a poor run of form, citing his performance after back-to-back ducks on the Australian ODI tour last year. The former Indian captain failed to open his account in consecutive ODI matches, but since then, he went on a rampage and, in the last year, has already scored 4 hundreds.Also Read: Dissecting The Madness Behind Virat Kohli's New ODI Approach“If he had been removed after those two ducks in Australia, would we have been able to praise him or look at such knocks from him now?" Kaif said.“I can understand if it is a new player. But this is Virat Kohli. You cannot apply the same things to him as you do to others. Your form will go bad. No one is a machine or this is not a video game."Was Virat Kohli right in announcing Test retirement?Once touted to score more Test hundreds than his idol, Sachin Tendulkar, Kohli’s red-ball numbers have dipped massively since the start of the 2020s. Up until 2019, he had already racked up 27 hundreds in the format and had averaged nearly 55.However, since 2020, he has managed to score only three more hundreds and failed to deliver the goods in his favourite format.Between 2013 and 2019, the 37-year-old racked up 6311 Test runs, with an average of 58.44, including 24 hundreds. However, since 2020, he could only score 2028 runs, with an average of just 30.73, and ended his career with 30 tons.In his last-ever Test series, Kohli scored a hundred at Perth, but the Australian bowlers exposed his weakness of fetching deliveries outside the off-stump. Hence, the player took the right call in bidding adieu to the format.Also Read: Madhya Pradesh Squad Announced For Ranji Trophy Matches, Rajat Patidar Replaced As Captain
