Sourav Ganguly breaks silence on Virat Kohli's sudden Test retirement: ‘I am surprised’

Former India captain Sourav Ganguly has reacted to the sudden Test retirement of Virat Kohli and called him a fantastic cricketer. Kohli had bid adieu to the longest format of the cricket on 12 May, leaving the whole cricketing world in shock.

Speaking to the reporters on Saturday (as quoted by PTI), Ganguly said, "Retirement is a personal decision. It is his decision to retire. It has been a fantastic career and Virat Kohli has been a fantastic cricketer, and so has been Rohit Sharma... His decision has surprised me."

Asked if he was surprised by the retirement call made by Kohli, given the batter was at his peak form, Ganguly said, “I am surprised”

Delhi coach on Virat Kohli's sudden retirement:

Just days earlier, Delhi Ranji Trophy coach Sarandeep Singh had also expressed shock at Kohli's sudden retirement decision.

Sarandeep Singh revealed he did not expect Kohli to make such a move, especially after his active participation in Delhi’s Ranji matches earlier this year.

“When I heard the news this morning about Virat Kohli announcing his retirement, this was a big surprise for me,” the Delhi coach said while talking to JioHotstar.

"I asked him if he would play a couple of County Cricket matches before the England tour. He said, 'No Paaji, I am looking to play India A matches. Two India A matches where I will prepare for the Test series.' He had a settled plan. Suddenly, seeing him end his red-ball career is surprising. He doesn’t have any fitness issues, no form issues," Sarandeep added.

Kohli ended his Test career with 210 innings from 123 matches for India where he scored 9,230 runs and became the fourth highest run-getter for the Indian team. He has smashed 30 hundreds and 31 fifties in the format and has the highest score of 254*.