The Gladiator that he is, Virat Kohli deserved a Colosseum when he took his final bow in Test cricket, the format which “tested” him, “shaped” him and “taught” him lessons.

But it was not so. In his Test retirement, Kohli did not get to take a dip in the ocean of emotions that Sachin Tendulkar enjoyed at the Wankhede when he bid the game goodbye in 2013. Actually, Kohli did not choose to; if he had wished for such a
farewell, the BCCI would have been compelled to arrange one.

Indian cricket loves its demigods, and there are plenty of them. But players like Sunil Gavaskar, Sachin, Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Kohli are something more. They are a unique band of superstars who became a cricket-mad nation’s emotional cushion. Or, a habit that defies the contours of good or bad. Even Rohit Sharma, with his impressive legion of fans, could boast of having flown on that flight of unmatched stardom. If not business class, economy for sure.

But now both Rohit and Kohli have walked into the sunset. They had already quit T20Is after they conquered the world together last year, and now, they will no longer be a part of the Indian Test team, of which they were permanent, undisputable residents for the last decade or so. They are still there in the ODI fold, but whatever be their future plans, it is difficult to assume that both of them will be around for the next 50-over World Cup, scheduled in 2027.

After Kohli’s Test retirement announcement on Monday, Indian cricket, and its zillions of fans, have suddenly been sucked into a superstar-less vacuum. It’s a place that most of us are not used to existing in. From Gavsakar to Sachin to Dhoni to Kohli, the changeover of super stardom in Indian cricket has always overlapped with one another. The transition has been so smooth that the common Indian cricket enthusiast, in the last three-four decades, has always had one or the other of their favourites to romanticise about.

Who next? Jasprit Bumrah is there, and he is a superstar for sure, but somehow the speedster does not evoke the same sentiments as a Dhoni or Kohli would do. Not that there are no new applicants. Shubman Gill, with his silken talent, is the frontrunner. Yashasvi Jaiswal’s promise is also quite strong. Then there are dark horses, players like the 14-year-old Vaibhav Suryavanshi who suddenly appears like lightning on India’s cricketing horizon.

But perhaps the bigger question is, even if someone emerges as the next superstar of Indian cricket, will that player have as prominent a presence in Test cricket as Kohli used to? The chances of that are in an ever-decreasing auto-mode. The rise of T20s has steadily eaten into the riches of Test cricket. Players nowadays are mostly not ready to sweat it out for 90 overs a day and five days on the trot when 40 overs of floodlight, punching-bag cricket tempts them with readymade fame and money. The IPL has changed India’s identity in cricket.

So will Kohli be the last Test superstar from India? Sad if it is so. But if it does end with Kohli, then, despite the disappointment, we should also celebrate, for we have had the pleasure of seeing Kohli in action in Test cricket. What a journey it has been! The highs, the lows, the controversies... and all of that wrapped in an unshakeable spirit to embrace the unique challenges that the format throws up.

In Test cricket, Kohli leaves a template that is hard to follow. In the game’s most traditional and conservative arena, Kohli appeared like a rebellious storm. But he did not really fall for cheap tricks or shortcuts, he just climbed the mountain from a different side, because he knew all roads lead to the peak. When he fell face-first on the 2014 tour of England, he did not hide in shame, he worked on his game and returned stronger, with almost a robot-like precision to own the series when India next toured England, in 2018.

As Greg Chappell wrote in his column for ESPNcricinfo, Kohli “was the most Australian non-Australian cricketer we’ve ever seen — a snarling warrior in whites, never giving an inch, always demanding more.”

When India travel to England in about a month’s time for a five-Test series, the Test team will have no Virat Kohli. It will be an audition to hunt India’s next Test superstar. Will we get our next Kohli? We better do. Because Virat Kohli did not need Test cricket as much as Test cricket needed him.