Former Indian player Sanjay Manjrekar believes Virat Kohli’s struggles to overcome his outside off-stump weakness against the red ball eventually led to his Test retirement. Kohli left everyone surprised by announcing his retirement from Tests on Monday, May 12, as well.

Despite his stunning overall Test record with over 9,000 runs and 30 centuries, Kohli faced a poor form in the last few months. He also managed only two 50+ scores in his previous 19 Test innings with an average of under 23 as well.

Reflecting on Virat Kohli’s retirement in his column for the Hindustan Times, Manjrekar wrote: “The decision to quit Test cricket must not have been easy, I wonder if in some way the constant effort to find a solution to his problems outside off has taken its toll.”

ALSO READ: “Aap Lucknow ke naye nawab hain” – Aakash Chopra on Rishabh Pant’s appointment as LSG captain

However, Sanjay Manjrekar praised Virat Kohli for finishing his Test career with 30 centuries, stating his excellence in the format. He also finished as Team India’s fourth highest run-scorer and with the fourth most Test centuries, behind only Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, and Sunil Gavaskar as well.

“Thirty Test hundreds is a huge achievement and only a guy who cares for Test cricket can achieve it. Virat cared for Test cricket. I am not sure how many superstars will do the same in the future. Virat may well be the last,” added Manjrekar.

ALSO READ: “In the next T20 World Cup in India, he’ll be number one bowler” – Mohammad Kaif on Varun Chakravarthy

Manjrekar further added: “In every way he was a modern-day hero, a role model for young athletes with his six-pack abs, his tattoos and his style of playing cricket. He did not conform to behaving ‘correctly’ on the field… he was there to win and he wasn’t going to let convention come in the way. But he worshipped Test cricket.”

“And for a while when Test cricket was really struggling (and will continue to do so) as a format, Virat invested much in it, showing that his heart was in the right place. He is a very rich sportsman but until the very end he gave his all to Test cricket, the most non-lucrative form of the game. When Virat the superstar was touching new heights in Test cricket, sometimes I would feel that the format needed him more than the other way round,” Sanjay Manjrekar concluded.