Former India great questions about retirement of Virat Kohli

Former India captain and ex-BCCI chief selector Dilip Vengsarkar has voiced strong opinions on several key moments surrounding India’s recent England tour for the Anderson–Tendulkar Trophy — a series that saw a young Shubman Gill-led team come agonizingly close to ending India’s 18-year wait for a Test series win in England.

While Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma had announced their Test retirements before the series, Vengsarkar felt Kohli’s presence was crucial.

“If I were chief selector, I’d have persuaded Virat to retire only after playing the England series. His class and experience were needed,” said the 116-Test veteran in a recent interview.

On the controversy over coach Gautam Gambhir’s confrontation with Oval curator Lee Fortis — who reportedly stopped the Indian team from inspecting the pitch too closely — Vengsarkar sided firmly with Gambhir.

“As head coach, Gambhir had every right to examine the pitch. Visiting teams do it in India without restrictions — even their media inspects the pitch. Why should it be different in England?” he asked.

He also dismissed Matthew Hayden’s criticism of Gambhir’s language.

“If this had happened to an Aussie team, they would’ve used far stronger words to show the curator his place,” Vengsarkar remarked.

The former selector was equally critical of the BCCI’s handling of Jasprit Bumrah’s workload, lamenting that the spearhead played only three of the five Tests.

“Given the importance of the series and Bumrah’s fragile back, he should have been advised to skip IPL 2025 or play fewer games. I’m sure both Bumrah and Mumbai Indians owner Mukesh Ambani would have understood,” he said.

Vengsarkar stressed that IPL performances fade from memory, while iconic Test series are remembered for decades. He lauded standout efforts from Mohammed Siraj (23 wickets in five Tests), Gill (754 runs), KL Rahul (532), Yashasvi Jaiswal (411), Rishabh Pant (479), and Washington Sundar (284 runs & 7 wickets).