Former India wicket-keeper batter Dinesh Karthik feels that the broadcasters might face trouble after Virat Kohli’s Test retirement before the England tour. However, Kohli announced his Test retirement on Monday, May 12, midway through the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 as well. And, Dinesh Karthik said that it was convenient for everyone to ‘piggyback’ on Kohli, and go with the momentum that he generated single-handedly as well.

“The toughest people who are actually going to face the brunt of Virat Kohli leaving is, could be the broadcasters. He brought a certain imagery, a certain visual, that was not associated with Test cricket earlier. From a broadcaster’s point of view, he was someone that everybody piggybacked on,” Dinesh Karthik said on Cricbuzz.

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“When Virat Kohli does well, everybody runs behind him, Virat Kohli 100, Virat Kohli boundary package, six package. But in the last couple of years, whenever the batting unit did not do well, there will be a lot of focus on Virat Kohli, the batter,” he further added.

However, Virat Kohli took the responsibility on his shoulders, firstly after taking the No. 4 from Sachin Tendulkar, and then leading the side following MS Dhoni’s Test retirement in 2014 as well. He led with example and became the face of the national team, and then the entire cricketing world in a way as well.

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“I genuinely wish and hope that he gets all the happiness that he wants because he has taken the load of being the greatest-ever cricketer, the most important cricketer in the Indian team for a decade now. I assume, at least I wish, that he plays the IPL. We know he wants to play till the 2027 World Cup, which is a very realistic target to have, and I am pretty sure he will achieve it the way he is batting, and the fitness he has shown,” Dinesh Karthik concluded.