Virat Kohli retires: What Sachin was to the millennials, Kohli was to the Gen Z

New Delhi:

“And now, the end is near, and so I face the final curtain…”When Virat Kohli posted his retirement video with Frank Sinatra’s “My Way” playing in the background, it hit different. It wasn’t just a choice of the song. It was a statement. Bold, emotional, unwavering just like the way Kohli has played cricket entirely on his own terms.Virat Kohli’s retirement from Test cricket isn’t just the end of a glittering career, it's the end of an era. For those of us who came of age after the great Sachin Tendulkar, Kohli wasn’t just a cricketer. He was our heartbeat, our hero, our fire. He was the reason we woke up at 5 am for a Boxing Day Test in Melbourne or stayed up past midnight watching India fight it out in Johannesburg. If Sachin made cricket a religion, Kohli brought an intensity to it that turned every session into a battlefield.

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Yet Kohli's greatest gift to Indian cricket wasn’t just the mountain of runs, though 9,230 runs in 123 Tests with 30 centuries is nothing short of extraordinary. It was the transformation he brought to the team’s mentality. He instilled belief. He demanded hunger. He prioritised fitness like never before, not just for himself but for an entire generation. And most critically, he spearheaded the rise of an Indian pace attack that could dominate anywhere in the world. The likes of Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami, Ishant Sharma, Umesh Yadav, and Mohammed Siraj became match-winners.Shane Warne once famously said in 2021, "Virat Kohli is Test cricket. He loves it. It’s the purest form of the game and every single time he plays, he gives it everything."Today, those words feel prophetic.Who can forget the huddle talk he gave before England came out to bat in the fourth innings at Lord’s in 2021. Kohli said, “For 60 overs, they should feel hell.” That one line, raw and electric, captured everything he stood for in this format.

Kohli's journey, though, wasn’t always smooth. In 2012, Sanjay Manjrekar tweeted that he’d give Kohli "one more Test just to be sure he doesn't belong here." A decade later, when Kohli retired, the same Manjrekar tweeted: “Biggest brand of the modern cricket era who gave it all for cricket’s oldest format. Test cricket owes that debt to Virat Kohli.” That arc of doubt, defiance, and dominance sums up Kohli best.

In November 2019, Kohli was 31, already with 7,202 Test runs and 27 centuries. At the time, 10,000 runs and a 50+ average felt like a foregone conclusion. But the years that followed weren’t kind. In the last five years, he added just over 2,000 runs, finishing with 9,230 runs at an average of 46.85 his lowest since 2012. Since that mammoth 254 against South Africa, his form dipped sharply. In the 42 Tests that followed, his average dropped from 55.1 to under 47.After the COVID break, the numbers reflected a harsh reality. He averaged just 32.09 across 37 Tests. India’s top 7 batters averaged 31.15, and globally, the average was 29.87. For a man who once redefined greatness, those numbers felt jarringly modest.

Virat Kohli's final tour of Australia summed up the struggle. Dismissed caught behind in eight innings, scoring just 190 runs at 23.75, with a lone century in Perth masking what was otherwise a painful farewell series.But to reduce Kohli’s legacy to mere numbers is to miss the essence of who he was. He brought theatre to Test cricket. He roared after wickets like a fast bowler, celebrated draws like wins, and charged in the field with unrelenting energy. His passion was infectious. His aggression wasn’t just personal, it was symbolic of a new India, one that didn’t back down, one that played to win, home or away.

In 2012, Kohli looked at himself in the mirror and decided he didn’t look like a professional athlete. That moment sparked a transformation; he overhauled his diet, embraced discipline, and became the fittest cricketer of his era.

For many fans, the fact that he ends his career without crossing 10,000 Test runs and with an average just shy of 50 feels like a travesty. It may haunt us, not because it diminishes him, but because we always believed he would defy limits.But then again, Kohli was always more than the numbers.Quiz: Who's that IPL player?With Rohit Sharma and R Ashwin also bowing out of the format during the BGT series in Australia earlier this year, and with stalwarts like Rahane and Pujara already out of the Test fold, Kohli’s retirement truly feels like the last curtain call of a golden generation. The era that brought us historic wins at Lord’s, the Gabba, Centurion, and the Oval… is now history.For the fans, this moment is more than just cricket. Kohli wasn’t just a player. For all Gen Z fans of Kohli his retirement feels like a deeply personal loss.Farewell, Virat Kohli. You didn’t just play Test cricket. You gave it a soul.