Suresh Raina, the former Indian cricketer, recently shared his thoughts on Virat Kohli’s retirement from T20Is, claiming that it happened too soon. Raina believes Kohli could have easily played on until the T20 World Cup in 2026, particularly after witnessing Kohli’s impressive performance where he scored 70 runs off just 42 balls against Rajasthan Royals at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium.
Kohli made the decision to step away from T20I cricket after India won the 2024 T20 World Cup in Barbados. He played a crucial role in the final match, contributing to the team’s victory. Now, as the Indian team prepares to defend their title at the upcoming World Cup next year on home soil, they will do so without key players like Kohli, Rohit Sharma, and Ravindra Jadeja. Instead, they will rely on a younger group of athletes to take on the challenge.
Virat hits his 5th fifty of #TATAIPL's 18th season! 🔥@ImRaina feels King #Kohli retired too soon in T20Is, could’ve played till 2026! 😳
— Star Sports (@StarSportsIndia) April 24, 2025
Do you agree with #SureshRaina? 🤔
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Reflecting on Kohli’s retirement, Raina mentioned, I still think that Virat Kohli retired early from T20I cricket. He could have played until 2026, based on how well he is performing right now, and also considering the 2025 Champions Trophy. His comments came after Kohli had a fantastic season, having won the Orange Cap for the second time in the IPL 2024 and being in contention for the award again this year.
Following a hard-fought victory against Rajasthan, Kohli expressed his gratitude towards the batting unit during his post-match interview. After getting put into bat, he managed to score a solid 70 runs, which was part of an impressive 95-run partnership with Devdutt Padikkal, who scored 50 runs off 27 balls. The team set a competitive total of 205/5. Although Rajasthan Royals started strong with a score of 110/2, the Bengaluru team tightened their defense, ultimately restricting the Royals to 194/9. Australian bowler Josh Hazlewood stood out with impressive figures of 4 wickets for 33 runs.
Kohli addressed the team’s performance during the interview, saying, We’ve had three pretty average games at home, so we talked about a few things we needed to improve as a batting unit, and I think we did a good job tonight in posting a solid score. Looking ahead, RCB is gearing up to face the Delhi Capitals in their next match on Sunday, April 27, at the opposing team’s ground.
