Dilip Vengsarkar subtly calls out Ajit Agarkar’s misstep for England tour: Virat Kohli should've been persuaded to...

Former India captain Dilip Vengasarkar on Monday subtly called out BCCI chief selector Ajit Agarkar's misstep for the recently-concluded Test series in England surrounding the Test retirement of Virat Kohli. Vengasarkar felt Kohli should have been persuaded to play in the Test series against England. Dilip Vengsarkar felt Virat Kohli should have played in England

Speaking to the Times of India, Vengsarkar said that if he had been the national selector, he would have convinced Kohli to feature in one last Test series against England before retiring from the traditional format, as India needed his class and experience.

“If I were the Indian chief selector, I would have persuaded Virat to bid goodbye to Test cricket after playing the England series. We needed his class and experience in this series,” he said.

Kohli shockingly retired in the month of May, just weeks before the announcement of the Test squad for the tour of England. The announcement came just a few days after Rohit Sharma called time on his career in Test cricket. Both had earlier retired from T20Is last year in June, right after India beat South Africa to win the T20 World Cup in Barbados.

Despite the absence of the two batting stalwarts, the young Indian side, led by Shubman Gill, pulled off a fascinating 2-2 draw in the five-match contest. Gill was the Player of the Series for India with his record 754 runs in 10 innings - the most-ever by an Indian captain in a singe contest.

Kohli breaks silence on Test retirement

Almost a month after his shocking announcement, Virat Kohli finally spoke about his decision to retire from Test cricket. He was asked about it during a charity event for former India cricketer Yuvraj Singh's foundation, YouWeCan.

"I just coloured my beard two days ago. You know it's time when you are colouring your beard every four days," Kohli quipped, as per Times of India.

Kohli retired with 9,230 runs at an average of 46.85, placing him fourth on India’s all-time list behind Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, and Sunil Gavaskar. As captain, he led in 68 Tests, winning 40 — the most by any Indian skipper and the fourth-best in history.

He will next feature in a three-match ODI series against Australia in October, followed by a home series against South Africa.

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