Former England captain Michael Atherton has said that he loved watching Virat Kohli play every day of his 123 Tests, adding that one couldn’t take their eyes off the latter, three days after the star India batter announced his retirement from the longest format, just over a month before India’s five-Test tour of England. Kohli represented India in 123 Tests, scoring 9,230 runs at an average of 46.85, including 30 hundreds. Kohli led India to 40 victories in 68 Tests, the most by any Indian captain to date, and he is widely considered the best Indian skipper in the longest format. “I loved watching him play every day of his 123 Tests. You couldn’t take your eyes off Kohli. He put his heart and soul into Test cricket, and that energy and passion never seemed to dim,” Atherton said while speaking on Sky Sports Cricket. “Kohli’s aura, passion and swagger transformed Indian cricket” ? Nasser Hussain and Michael Atherton react to the news of Virat Kohli’s retirement on the Sky Sports Cricket Podcast ?️ pic.twitter.com/DnSejGWsBJ — Sky Sports Cricket (@SkyCricket) May 14, 2025 Atherton said that Kohli needed to acknowledge the unique challenges of Tests, a format he not just embraced but elevated with unmatched intensity. “You kind of pity the person who has to follow,” Atherton said while speaking on a probable replacement for Kohli at No. 4. “I’ve been a massive Virat Kohli fan over the last 14 years. But he was so more than just the stats, it was his aura, swagger and passion. No one embodied the meaning of cricket in India more than Kohli,” Atherton’s former teammate Nasser Hussain said. Under Kohli’s captaincy, India became the No. 1 Test team in the world, holding that position for over three years. “He is the ultimate winner. He can’t go on the field and not be 100%. Everything for Kohli is about winning. That’s why he was so good in run chases and why India became such a formidable force,” Hussain said. England are scheduled to host India for a five-match Test series beginning June 20, which is the start of the 2025-2027 World Test Championship cycle as well.