Indian football legend Sunil Chhetri stated that there’s no need to speculate why Virat Kohli took the decision to retire from Test cricket, but rather rejoice in learning that the talisman batter was at peace with his call. Chhetri and Kohli are two of Bengaluru’s favourite sons in their own right, having spearheaded Bengaluru FC and Royal Challengers Bengaluru respectively through the years. Chhetri came out of retirement earlier this year to yet again don the jersey of the Men in Blue to the rejoicement of fans all over. But Kohli, on the other hand, was the cause of major heartbreak, as after 123 Tests for India, the 30-time centurion and talismanic batter finally called time on his international Test cricket career on Monday. The Indian football legend, who is a close friend of Kohli, recently spoke out on the decision that the Indian batter made to step down from the red-ball format. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Star Sports India (@starsportsindia) “I’m not actually surprised at the decision. But knowing that he’s at peace, I’m happy for him,” exclaimed Chhetri in a chat with Star Sports. “Knowing Virat, he must have taken a lot of time to call it off. Especially Test cricket. Even with my knowledge, I know and you know how much he loves playing Test matches. So, for him to call it a day, even at his peak, especially when you have fans who’ll urge him to keep playing for another year or so, it’s big. For him to call ‘Alvida’ to the format he loves the most, it must have been difficult for him.” “But the good thing is he sounds at peace, and he knows what he’s doing,” added the Indian football legend. Much has been said about the reason behind his abrupt decision to step down, with many questioning whether it was his poor performances lately in the red-ball format that pushed him to make the call. But, Chhetri expounded on the other side of the equation that lies with sportspersons — family and personal life — and explained the difficult decisions every great makes when nearing the tail end of their career. “After a point in time, you start questioning yourself about whether you’re maintaining a certain balance in life: with your sporting career and your family. That becomes important, asking yourself whether the sacrifice is worth it,” Chhetri stated. “If you’re going to look at only performance as the factor for retirement, then there would be no need for Virat to retire now. Just look at the way he plays (in the IPL). The other day, when I went to watch RCB vs CSK, he was outstanding. He wanted to be on the field, and he wanted to win. So, there would be no reason for him to retire because of his performance.” “So, it’s not only his performance, but a lot of other things that come into play, which only he knows of. And the worst part is, only he can calculate it. He had to make his decision, and he did,” Chhetri concluded.