“I'm surprised he's kind of like bailed out” - Monty Panesar on Virat Kohli’s Test retirement

Team India’s much-awaited tour of England is all set to begin on 20 June, and all eyes will be on how they perform in the five-match Test series. They will not have both Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli in the longest format of the game anymore, as they have already announced their retirement. 

Hence, it will be a huge test for an Indian team that is going through a transition phase under a new captain, Shubman Gill, and coach, Gautam Gambhir.

Talking about it in a chat with Hindustan Times, former England international Monty Panesar was asked about Kohli’s sudden Test retirement. In reply to that, he said that the India selectors and coaches probably had said to Kohli that the former batter would be dropped if he did not score in the first two Tests, and that might have made Kohli take the call.

Panesar said: "I think he was definitely going to play. I think England were expecting, everyone was expecting him to play. I'm surprised he's kind of like bailed out. But maybe the fact that outside off-stump, he's just thinking, well, you know, they may have had a word with him. They said, look, if you don't score well in the first couple of Test matches, don't expect to play all the five. So, he's probably thinking, well, I'll just call it a day and give the youngsters a go."

"It would depend on how Karun Nair performs” - Monty Panesar

Now, with both Kohli and Rohit gone, India need to fill two big voids, especially with a batter who can open the innings and stabilise it in the middle as a number four batter. 

Panesar also claimed that India’s fate will be mostly dependent on how Karun Nair performs. He is expected to get a chance in the playing XI, and in the middle order, he has to come good against a top-quality England bowling unit.

"It would depend on how Karun Nair performs, he scored a double-hundred against the England Lions. He and Shubman Gill, that middle-order, how they bat. I think the batters who've played county cricket, if they are able to then transform that same form at the international level, then I think India have got a chance to win. But if they just somehow freeze, it's the big stage, it's the crowd, it's playing for India, it's not playing for Surrey or some other county, and suddenly they're not playing the same level like it's for England Lions when there's only like a dog and, you know, one man and his dog," Panesar concluded.

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