“He followed his gut feel” - AB de Villiers opens up on Virat Kohli’s Test retirement

Former South African captain AB de Villiers has asserted that Virat Kohli has left behind a great legacy with the red ball after announcing his Test retirement. Moreover, he had added that Shubman Gill has the ability to achieve something exceptional in England.

Earlier in May 2025, Kohli decided to bid adieu to the longest format of the game ahead of the England tour, scheduled to start on June 20. Notably, Kohli emerged as India’s fourth-highest run-scorer in Tests, scoring 9230 runs at 46.85 in 123 games with 30 centuries and 31 fifties.

“He followed his gut feel. I think he has done a lot for cricket around the world over the years. Luckily, we’ll still see him on the cricket field. He will be missed in Test matches, there is no doubt about it, but he leaves (behind) a great legacy with the red ball,” De Villiers said of Kohli on the sidelines of a NGO Project Mumbai on Saturday.

Without having the likes of Ravi Ashwin, Kohli, and Rohit Sharma, Team India will tour England. Moreover, the veteran pacer Mohammed Shami, who is not fully fit, is also not part of the tour, starting this month.

“Yes, it’s time for the younger guys to step up… Shubman Gill taking on the responsibility. There’s lots of talent in India and largely credit to the IPL for that, (it is) really giving great exposure to some of the youngsters at a very early age. We saw Vaibhav Suryavanshi this year (and) many other youngsters, they come in their first year and they look very mature and ready to play cricket and it’s a great platform for Indian cricket,” he added.

“They’ve got to take some responsibility in England, it’ll be a tough test, but they have all the talent in the world and if they believe, maybe they can achieve something special,” he concluded.

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