India's struggle in England brings back the good old glimpses of former captain Virat Kohli, who took an unprecedented retirement from the format in the middle of the 2025 Indian Premier League right before the Indian squad for the England tour was declared. Well, his giving away his Test captaincy was still a shock. Virat Kohli has been regarded as one of the best captains in Test cricket India has ever produced. However, within months of quitting his captaincy from Royal Challengers Bengaluru, he gave up his role in Tests too. There had been little chaos, especially after being sacked from ODIs. The then BCCI President Sourav Ganguly had clarified a number of times that BCCI requested Kohli to stay, but Kohli stepped down. Here are the three possible tours that might have cursed his Test captaincy: 1 | India’s tour of New Zealand 2019–20 (Feb–Mar 2020) The 2-0 whitewash against New Zealand could have laid the foundation of the downfall, with Kohli himself struggling for runs. Kohli managed just 38 runs in four innings of the two Tests, in Wellington and Christchurch, respectively. India lost by 10 wickets in the 1st Test and by 7 wickets in the 2nd India was pathetic with the bat. They were bowled out for 165 in the first innings and 191 in the second at Wellington. Mayank Agarwal, who was the only positive, got a half-century in the second innings, while Ajinkya Rahane got 46 runs in the first. New Zealand sealed a win within 2 overs in the second innings. In the second Test, Prithvi Shaw, Cheteshwar Pujara, and Hanuma Vihari got 50s in the first innings but failed miserably again in the second. India was shattered for 124 runs. New Zealand had won that match by 7 wickets. Well, the series had raised serious questions on Kohli's leadership technique, with the media labeling the whitewash as "abject surrender." Even players were claimed to visibly lack morale! 2 | ICC World Test Championship Final 2021 (Southampton, June 18–23, 2021) A four-day rain-cursed inaugural World Test Championship finale at Aeges Bowl against New Zealand was another questionable tour for Kohli. He himself scored 44 runs in the first innings and 13 in the second. India did manage to put 217 runs on the board and restrict the Kiwis to 249. But they could not stand against Tim Southee in the final innings! India was bowled out for just 170 runs, with Rishabh Pant giving the lone fight but getting dismissed in the most bizarre way. Kyle Jamieson was the real threat to the Indians. He took 5 wickets in the first and then took 2, and was awarded the player of the series award. This was India’s first defeat in an ICC Test final. The loss on a big stage—denying India the inaugural Test championship—led to intense media criticism of Kohli’s captaincy. The fact that India couldn’t seize a modest target (212) by an aggressive chase fueled doubts about the team’s mentality in the finals. Read also: India’s White-Ball Tour of England Set for July 2026: Full Details 3 | India’s 2021–22 South Africa tour (Dec 2021–Jan 2022) This hammered the final nail into Kohli's captaincy tenure. India started the series with a 113-run win. India lost the second one at Johannesburg by 7 wickets, despite half-centuries from KL Rahul, Pujara, and Rahane. Kohli missed the Test due to injury, and KL led the squad. Cape Town saw a gritty Virat Kohli. He had 79 runs in the first innings but stayed for 142 balls trying to accompany Rishabh Pant for his century. Eventually, Kohli got dismissed for 29 balls in the 144th ball. It was Jasprit Bumrah with whom Rishabh got his ton. Despite a batting collapse in the series, a DRS controversy in the 3rd Test (Ashwin lbw to SA captain Dean Elgar overturned on review when TV replays showed the ball missing stumps) added to the acrimony. Ex-players and media savaged India’s inability to close out the series; former Proteas batsman Boeta Dippenaar noted SA showed “more character” than India. The defeat, as usual, questioned Kohli's tactics and exposed India's vulnerability on foreign soil. And coming back from that, Kohli gave up his captaincy with a short Instagram post.