Top 5 Virat Kohli Test innings of all time (Photo Source: Twitter/X)
Indian batting great Virat Kohli announced his retirement from Test cricket, drawing the curtain on a legendary red-ball career spanning 14 years. The 36-year-old finished with 9,230 runs in 123 Tests at an average of 46.85, including 30 centuries and seven double hundreds.
Kohli, who captained the nation in 68 Tests, led the team to 40 wins—the most by an Indian captain and the fourth-most in Test history. He made his debut in 2011 against the West Indies and announced himself with a memorable hundred in Adelaide in early 2012.
From 2014 onwards, the Delhi-born batter was a consistent member of India’s Test team and guided the side to iconic series wins in Australia and England. His retirement follows the recent exits of Rohit Sharma and Ravi Ashwin from the longest format of the game. Meanwhile, Kohli had informed the BCCI of his decision ahead of the upcoming England tour and took to social media to share the news on 12th May 2025.
Here are the five best Test knocks of Virat Kohli:
5. 100* vs Australia in Perth, 2024
In his final Test series for India, Virat Kohli produced a stunning innings at Perth during the opening match of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25. On a tricky pitch and against the Australian attack, Kohli scored an unbeaten 100* off 143 balls, recording his 30th Test century and his last in the longest format. After a rare failure in the first innings, the veteran bounced back in style, hitting eight fours and two sixes.
This knock, his seventh Test hundred on Australian soil, broke Sachin Tendulkar’s record and tied him with Wally Hammond for the second-most centuries in Tests by a visiting batter in Australia. Kohli’s innings, coming after Yashasvi Jaiswal’s 161, helped India post 487/6 before declaring, handing Australia a target of 534. Eventually, the visiting team registered a clinical 295-run win.
4. 149 vs England in Edgbaston, 2018
On 2nd August 2018, in Edgbaston, Virat Kohli had a point to prove after a disappointing 2014 England tour. Walking in with the score at 54/2, Kohli took his time to accumulate runs and score big. Ace pacer James Anderson tested him with 43 balls of swing and nearly dismissed him on 21 occasions, but a dropped catch allowed the star batter to hold his composure and stay focused.
Kohli constructed a 149-run knock and single-handedly took India to a respectable total. His 22 boundaries and one six put pressure back on the English bowlers. However, India fell short by 31 runs. Notably, this was his first Test ton in England, and it propelled him to the No.1 Test batter ranking in the world.
3. 254* vs South Africa in Pune, 2019
Virat Kohli’s highest Test score of an unbeaten 254* came during the second Test of the 2019 series against South Africa in Pune. Coming in at 136/2 after a strong start from the openers, Kohli anchored the innings and stayed at the crease for nearly eight hours.
Facing a bowling attack featuring Kagiso Rabada, Vernon Philander, and debutant Anrich Nortje, Kohli remained focused throughout his innings. His 254* came off 336 balls and included 33 boundaries and two sixes. During the innings, he also crossed the 7,000-run mark in Test cricket and recorded his seventh double century. India declared at 601/5 and bowled South Africa out twice to win by an innings and 137 runs.
2. 153 vs South Africa in Centurion, 2018
In the second Test of the 2018 series against South Africa at Centurion, Virat Kohli delivered one of the finest knocks of his red-ball career. Facing a tough bowling attack on a bouncy wicket, Kohli stood tall with a brilliant 153, his second Test century on South African soil.
Walking in early during the 10th over, the right-handed batter watched wickets fall around him but battled through the difficult conditions, lacing his innings with 15 boundaries. Notably, no other Indian batter crossed 50, and Kohli scored nearly half of India’s total of 307 in reply to South Africa’s 335. Despite the visiting team eventually losing the match by 135 runs, Kohli’s knock earned huge praise. It also made him only the second Indian captain after Sachin Tendulkar to score a Test ton in South Africa.
1. 115 & 141 vs Australia in Adelaide, 2014
Virat Kohli began his Test leadership in Adelaide, 2014, stepping in for the injured MS Dhoni. He smashed twin centuries (115 & 141) that not only kept India in the game but also displayed his sheer brilliance. In the first innings, Kohli’s 115 helped India recover from early challenges and reach 444 in response to Australia’s 517. But it was the second-innings knock of 141 that grabbed significant attention.
Chasing 364 on a difficult pitch, the Delhi-born batter built a crucial 185-run partnership with Murali Vijay. Even after Vijay fell just short of a century, Kohli pushed on, taking on Nathan Lyon and Mitchell Johnson. India eventually lost by 48 runs, but many realized the importance of Kohli as a prominent Test batter. In that series, the veteran scored 692 runs in eight innings and was the second-highest run-getter of the four-match fixture.
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