May 11, 2025: Virat Kohli has found himself at the center of an online stir after the official County Championship handle took a jab at the Indian batting star amid swirling speculation that he may retire from Test cricket ahead of India’s five-match series in England this June.
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In a now-viral post, the County Championship shared a 17-second video showing England pacers Gus Atkinson and Josh Tongue steaming in with fiery deliveries, captioned: “We don’t blame you, Virat.” The pointed tweet is being widely interpreted as a dig at Kohli’s supposed hesitance to face the English quicks, a recurring challenge in his career — particularly against deliveries outside off-stump.
This social media jibe comes on the heels of Kohli’s underwhelming Test form. He managed just 190 runs in nine innings during the Border-Gavaskar Trophy earlier this year, with a lone century in Perth standing out as the only bright spot. Once a dominant force in all formats, Kohli’s red-ball performances have dipped in recent years.
Reports also suggest that Kohli recently expressed a desire to lead India in Tests again, but the BCCI wasn’t keen, looking instead to groom Shubman Gill as the long-term captain. Kohli, India’s most successful Test captain with 68 matches at the helm, made his debut 14 years ago and has scored 9,230 runs in 123 Tests at an average of 46.85.
With Rohit Sharma having recently stepped away from the longest format, Kohli’s potential retirement could mark the end of an era and leave a significant leadership and experience vacuum in India’s Test setup.
While no official statement has come from Kohli yet, the cricketing world is abuzz with speculation about his next move — and whether England’s pacers truly have a say in it.