Box office Kohli leaves test cricket with massive void

NEW DELHI - India stalwart Virat Kohlis test retirement has robbed the format of its biggest global star and its most influential advocate, leaving a vacuum that will be hard to fill.

Kohli has ended his 123-test career having amassed 9,230 runs at an average of 46.85, securing his position as a modern great of the game.

Between 2014-2022, Kohli captained India to 40 wins in 68 tests to become the countrys most successful skipper in the format.

But the 36-year-olds lasting legacy in test cricket lies beyond his truckload of runs and checked cover-drive, which is among the games most beautiful shots.

Having succeeded Mahendra Singh Dhoni as Indias test captain, King Kohli overhauled Indias approach to turn the team into a ruthless juggernaut that did not rely anymore on designer dustbowls to win test matches.

Kohli demanded, and helped create, a formidable pace pool in his single-minded pursuit to turn India into a team capable of winning tests anywhere in the world.

Mostly they did.

He revolutionised the fitness culture in the India dressing room, turning a somewhat lax fielding side into a crack squad of electric-heel fielders.

Kohli led by example.

Nicknamed Chiku after a chubby-cheek popular comic book character in India in his early years, Kohli sacrificed his favourite butter chicken and grew into a lean, mean run-machine with an extraordinary ability to run between the wickets.

On the field, he is among the safest catchers and the fastest retrievers of the ball.

When doing none of this, Kohli, like a conductor at an orchestra, whips up boisterous support from the stands with just one gesture.

When needed, he can also silence the stands with a glare or gesture, like he did at the Oval after India fans started booing Australia batter Steve Smith during a