After Virat Kohli reportedly expressed his wish to retire from Test cricket, the Board of Control for Cricket in India are looking to persuade the 36-year-old veteran to continue in the longest format. As per a report by Cricbuzz, the BCCI are looking to bring in a highly influential figure in Indian cricket to help persuade Kohli to continue his red-ball career. This will likely be held before the squad selection which is scheduled for May 23, later this month. It remains to be seen if the unnamed figure will be able to convince Kohli to continue the format. In addition, the BCCI also want to know why he wants to step away from the longest format considering his stellar record and many milestones he has yet to achieve. Whilst he has conquered the Australian conditions, he has yet to win a Test series in England, New Zealand and South Africa. In the new cycle, the team will be touring the first two countries as well, which could be ideal for Kohli to tick those two series wins off his list. In addition, the batting great is just 770 runs away from breaching the 10,000-run mark in the longest format, a milestone which a rare few Indian cricketers have achieved. Kohli’s batting numbers in the longest format have taken a hit. The star batter despite averaging over 50 at one point, has fallen in terms of his performances since 2019. From 2020 and afterwards, he has only averaged 50+ in one year that is 2023. The other seasons, he has gone below 30 which is way below the standards from someone of the class as Kohli. Kohli’s performances came under scrutiny as he had a three-year lean patch from 2020-2023 where he did not score a single century, which is a massive surprise considering he is considered to be India’s best batter. That being said, the team could use Kohli’s experience with Rohit Sharma calling time on his Test career and the team eyeing a young captain to take up the mantle. The new skipper will have a gargantuan first-assignment with the upcoming tour of England, set to begin in June later next month.