Former Indian opening batter and commentator Aakash Chopra has asserted that leaving Test cricket has liberated the Indian talismanic batter, Virat Kohli. Notably, his comments came right after India’s thumping eight-wicket win over the West Indies in the first ODI.
In the first ODI, Kohli scored an unbeaten 139 off only 88 deliveries as he became the fastest batter to reach 15,000 ODI runs, eclipsing Sachin Tendulkar. For the unversed, Kohli retired from T20Is in 2024 and Tests in 2025.
“Leaving Test cricket has just liberated him. There’s a lot more clarity in mind that this is the format that I play and this is how I want to play it. Test cricket demanded something else. And therefore, he had to always keep switching between the two formats, or rather three formats he was playing. But now it’s only ODI for India. It’s only T20 for RCB. He knows that I can actually go and enjoy batting. This is sheer enjoyment,” Chopra said on Cricinfo.
“How do you actually motivate yourself at this stage of your career where you’ve achieved everything that there is to be achieved? You keep upping the bar for yourself that the challenge is not coming from outside. Can I do this? Can I go there? The uncharted territory? I’ve not done this. Will it excite me now? I think that’s the kind of approach we see with Virat Kohli, which is, of course, refreshing,” Chopra added.
On Sunday, September 27, Kohli has scripted history by becoming only the second cricketer after legendary former Indian cricketer Sachin Tendulkar to reach the 15,000-run milestone in ODIs.
Kohli reached the landmark on the fifth ball of the 29th over, hitting a boundary off Alzarri Joseph in his 303rd innings.
