Virat Kohli’s retirement from Test cricket remains a hot topic in the cricketing world. According to some reports, the BCCI gave him a deadline because he was struggling to score runs consistently in the Test format. This struggle is thought to be the reason he retired before India’s tour of England. Over the last five years, Kohli’s performance in Tests was not that great. He scored only 1,990 runs in 37 Tests, with three centuries. But former Australia player turned India coach Greg Chappell opined that it was not only a long poor form that led Kohli to abandon Tests, but also the absence of mental clarity. Chappell added that Kohli, 36, had acknowledged that his fitness was deteriorating and that his body wasn't cooperating with his mind anymore. On his column for ESPNcricinfo, Chappell wrote: “His decision was not born of diminished skill, but from the growing realization that he could no longer summon the mental clarity that had once made him so formidable. He accepted that, at the highest level, unless the mind is sharp and decisive, the body falters." Also Read | CLT20 Comeback? ECB Supports World Club Championship Plan Chappell, who coached India between 2005 and 2007, explained that when a player’s mind is not clear, it can hurt their decision-making and footwork while batting. In Kohli’s last series in Australia, from November to January, he was not playing well. He scored 190 runs in nine innings, with an average of 23.75. Out of his eight times getting out, seven times it was outside the off stump. During the New Year Test in Sydney, fast bowler Scott Boland dismissed Kohli twice. The former Australian cricketer added: "When doubt begins to settle in the bones, it disrupts decision-making, impairs footwork, and erodes the spontaneity essential to elite performance. Kohli's retirement is a reminder that form is more a function of the mind than it is of mechanics." Kohli retired from Tests as India's fourth-highest run-getter. He had scored 9,230 runs from 123 Tests at an average of 46.85. In his career, Kohli scored 30 centuries and 31 half-centuries. Due to his prolonged poor form, his Test average fell from 54.97 in 2019 to 46.85 at the time of retirement.