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Indian cricket superstar Virat Kohli may have retired from Test cricket, but his love for the traditional format of the game is still quite visible. Even after retiring from Test cricket in May 2025, Kohli continues to show how much this format means to him, and the cricket fraternity is loving that passion.
Recently, former England captain Ian Botham has showered rich praise on Kohli for his respect and dedication towards Test cricket. The legendary cricketer said that the former Indian captain’s mindset clearly shows why he is considered one of the greatest players of this generation.
Virat Kohli’s love for Test cricket continues even after retirement
Virat Kohli ended his incredible Test career on May 12, 2025, just before India’s England tour. He scored 9,230 runs in 123 Test matches and also became one of India’s most successful Test captains. During his captaincy, India became one of the successful teams both at home and away.
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Kohli brought aggression, energy, and a winning mindset to the Indian team, and many famous victories came under his captaincy, including the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in Australia. After his retirement, Kohli many times stressed that winning Test matches for India gave him more happiness than any other achievements, including RCB’s maiden IPL title glory in 2025.
Those words impressed Botham a lot. The former England captain said Kohli’s love for Test cricket perfectly explains his greatness and commitment towards the game. Botham also praised Kohli for giving so much importance to Test cricket at a time when T20 leagues are dominating the calendar.
Ian Botham calls Virat Kohli one of the finest Test batters of modern era
Speaking at the 12th edition of the Tiger Pataudi Memorial Lecture, organized jointly by The Bengal Club and The Telegraph on May 27, Botham noted that Kohli will always be remembered as one of the finest Test batters of the modern era.
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Botham said during his speech, “I love it when Virat Kohli says winning Test matches for India means more to him than anything else in the game. That, for me, sums him up, even including winning the IPL. For me, he is certainly one of the finest players in Test cricket.”
Virat Kohli says WPL has completely transformed women’s cricket in India
Meanwhile, Virat Kohli feels the Women’s Premier League (WPL) has completely changed women’s cricket in India. The RCB icon said the standard of women’s cricket has improved massively after the start of the WPL.
He also noted that the tournament is helping young Indian players grow quickly because they are regularly playing tough matches alongside some of the best cricketers in the world.
Kohli said on the RCB podcast: “I saw WPL in the past as well. But this time around, you look at the turnout of fans. There’s a cricketer in me that can say, “I can see the difference.” But when the public starts seeing the difference, that’s when you know the game has changed to a different degree. When they played in Baroda, stadiums were packed. You look at Navi Mumbai, I mean, packed. I was like, man, this is amazing. When they played in Bangalore, phenomenal turnout.”
