With a vital five-Test series in England looming, Team India could lose its most experienced player. Virat Kohli, who has dominated Indian cricket for the past decade, has updated the BCCI with his very real thoughts about retirement from Test cricket. If so it would mean the end of Indian cricket’s successful period. But the key point is that India cannot afford to lose him. Not at this point neither, when they need him the most. The BCCI was caught unprepared with Kohli's message. His contribution is without question and he is an asset to the nation. It made complete sense for Rohit Sharma (as captain) to quarantine himself from Test cricket, but the possible retirement of Kohli feels like a bomb dropped into the cricket community. India transitioning with the absence of Rohit Sharma, Ravichandran Ashwin (quarantining themself), while Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane and Mohammed Shami are just recovering. Its a shift of a generation. This shift was going to take place, but a smooth impact requires veteran presence. The current Indian set-up can become a young set-up, in the leadership of Shubman Gill. Kohli's experience becomes significant because not only is he an exceptional batter, but he is the custodian of Indian Test cricket to have delivered performances on difficult tours, like England. England tour without Kohli is incomplete: Player Inns Runs HS Ave 100 50 Rahul Dravid 56 2645 217 55.10 8 15 Virat Kohli 73 2637 149 40.56 3 18 Sachin Tendulkar 56 2626 193 49.54 7 12 Rohit Sharma 53 2287 140 50.82 9 10 Sourav Ganguly 42 1949 183 47.53 4 12 In the near future, India must have Kohli for the England series. There will be questions raised about his average of 32.56 in Tests in the last 2 years; however, this will not go deeper into Kohli in England because of an average. Kohli has scored 1,096 Test runs in England and is only behind Tendulkar, Dravid, and Gavaskar for the most Test runs in England by an Indian, which is an amazing achievement, and comes after the challenging 2014 series. Kohli's runs have not come the easy way in England and because they are with the team, they have come in the best situations, such as his incredible 593 runs in 2018. He is the second Indian for the most runs in International matches in England, only behind Rahul Dravid with 2,637 runs for India in all formats in England. One thing is for sure: Kohli is still the fittest cricketer in the Indian environment - arguably the world. He is 36 and moves at the pace of a 26-year-old. Unlike Rohit, who has received criticism for his fitness, Kohli has morphed into a better-than-fit athlete. Whether it's a quick single or a diving catch at slip, Kohli leads by example. The young players look up to him due to his work ethic and depot. A slump in form is not the end of Kohli's greatness at the game. Read also: Eden Gardens Removes IPL Branding Amid 2025 Suspension On top of that, he has been brilliant in IPL 2025. With 505 runs at an average of 63.12, and strike rate of 143.46 in 11 innings, Kohli is red hot. His performance is highlighted with seven 50s which is the most this season. That is the version of Kohli that you want to see walk out to bat at Lord's. He might not speak about it, but the numbers indicate the story has not ended. He is only about 900 runs away from taking over Gavaskar as the third-highest Test run-scorer for India. He is also rapidly approaching 10,000 Test runs, and just one century away from his 31st - another special number. Most Test runs for India: Player Span Inns Runs HS Ave 100 50 Tendulkar 1989-2013 329 15921 248* 53.78 51 68 Dravid 1996-2012 284 13265 270 52.63 36 63 Gavaskar 1971-1987 214 10122 236* 51.12 34 45 Kohli 2011-2025 210 9230 254* 46.85 30 31 Laxman 1996-2012 225 8781 281 45.97 17 56