What Virat Kohli said on Test future, last series vs Australia

India's batting icon Virat Kohli, often regarded as one of the greatest cricketers of the modern era, has signaled the end of a 14-year-long journey in the Test whites. With 123 Tests, 9230 runs, 30 centuries and an average of 46.85, Kohli’s farewell from the red-ball format marks the end of an era. And for the man himself, the decision was steeped in reflection, disappointment, and ultimately, clarity.In one of his last statements about his Test career, Kohli had confirmed that the recent Border-Gavaskar Trophy in Australia would be his last Test series Down Under, where he had had a lot of success earlier.Go Beyond The Boundary with our YouTube channel. SUBSCRIBE NOW!"If you ask me the intensity of how disappointed I've been, the most recent Australia tour would be the one that's most fresh. So it might feel the most intense to me," Kohli said at the RCB Innovation Lab Indian Sports Summit in Bengaluru earlier this year. The veteran compared the sting of failure Down Under to the haunting memories of the 2014 England tour, where he went 10 innings without a single half-century.Who's that IPL player?Like in England back then, Australia 2025 exposed familiar technical vulnerabilities. Despite starting strong with a resilient unbeaten century in Perth, Kohli was repeatedly dismissed outside off stump, edging behind on eight occasions. He finished the series with just 190 runs in nine innings at a disappointing average of 23.75.Kohli admitted that the weight of expectations — his own and the public’s — contributed to a spiral of desperation."Once you start taking on the energy and the disappointment from the outside, then you start burdening yourself way more," he reflected. "And then you start thinking about things, like ‘I've got two or three days left on this tour, I need to make an impact now.’ And you start getting more desperate. That's something I've surely experienced in Australia as well."He added, "Because I got a good score in the first Test. I thought, right, 'let's go.' There's going to be another big series for me. It doesn't turn out that way."The decision to walk away, though difficult, wasn’t impulsive. Kohli said he took time after the tour to process his emotions: "I’m not sitting here in 48 or 72 hours-time to make a decision like ‘let me go.’ Spend time with family. Just sit down. Let everything calm down... And within five-six days I was excited to go to the gym. I was like, okay fine. It’s all good. I don’t need to tweet anything right now."While he stressed that his "love for the game" remains intact, Kohli acknowledged the need for brutal honesty with oneself — a lesson reinforced during a recent heart-to-heart with former India coach Rahul Dravid."Recently, I had a very interesting conversation with Rahul Dravid. He said you always have to stay in touch with yourself... you might be going through a lean phase and you feel like 'this is it.' But it might not be. But then when it is time, he said, your competitive streak might not allow you to accept it."Kohli added, "At this point in my life, I feel pretty happy. I still love playing the game. Don’t get nervous, I’m not making any announcements, as of now, everything is fine."But those close to him and to Indian cricket know: this was the closest he’s come to an announcement yet.As he bids adieu to Test cricket, Kohli leaves behind not just towering numbers but also a legacy defined by passion, intensity and resilience.