Veteran New Zealand batter Kane Williamson took centre stage and talked about Virat Kohli’s decision to retirement from Test cricket, and opined that playing for a long time is not possible with modern cricket’s schedule.
The Indian team is all set to tour England for a five-game Test series. The series will mark the start of the new World Test Championship (WTC) 2025-27 cycle as well. Ahead of the much-anticipated series that is all set to kick off from June 20, ace India batter Virat Kohli took centre stage and announced that he will be retiring from Test cricket.
Kohli announced his decision to retire on May 12, as he became the second Indian batter after Rohit Sharma to hang up his boots from the longest format ahead of the England tour.
With the news of Kohli’s Test retirement breaking hearts all over world cricket, veteran New Zealand batter Kane Williamson came forward and reflected on Kohli’s decision. Williamson pointed out how fans think that a player can play forever, but that is just not possible with the hectic schedule of modern cricket.
“I guess when you are not just part of the cricketing fabric, but someone like Virat, he’s the whole couch isn’t he? You just assume that things last forever and they don’t. There comes a time and there is so much that goes into the game and especially the international game,” Williamson told Talksport in an interview.
“It takes its toll and it takes a huge amount of energy and the energy he’s brought to the game and how he’s grown the game in all formats over so many years. When you sit back and think about it, you are human beings and you make decisions and life decisions. Obviously, a world leader in our game and an absolute legend, but a fantastic human being. We grew up in Under-19s together, and followed these parallel lines in some respects, but in different worlds,” Williamson said.
It is worth noting that ahead of the tour, the BCCI (Board of Control for Cricket in India) came forward and announced that Shubman Gill would be India’s new Test captain ahead of the England tour. They announced Rishabh Pant as the vice captain as India hopes to get off to a good start to the WTC cycle.