Michael Clarke says it would be India’s loss if Virat Kohli retires from Test cricket

Former Australian captain Michael Clarke has stated that he would fight with selectors to keep Virat Kohli in the team. Clarke added it would be India’s loss if Kohli decides to retire from the red-ball format as he still has some fuel left in his tank.

Kohli had a mundane series Downunder, aggregating only 190 runs in five Test matches at an average of 23.75. Barring scoring a century in the second innings at Perth, Kohli scored a total of 90 runs in eight innings. 

Kohli’s perennial issue of flirting with the off-stump line deliveries led to his downfall as he could not deliver for the team as India suffered a 1-3 series loss.

However, Clarke backed Kohli to regain his lost form and said Kohli’s presence adds a lot of value to the team.

Michael Clarke said on Beyond23 Cricket Podcast, “It’s Virat Kohli! This guy can make a double hundred tomorrow. He’s that good a player. This guy could play, he should play until he’s had enough. If he retires from Test cricket right now, there’s only one team losing out, it’s India.” 

“If I was captain of any team that Virat Kohli was in, even though I know he didn’t make as many runs, he would have liked, I’m fighting for him to stay in my team,” Clarke added.

During his glorious career, Kohli has been often compared with Sachin Tendulkar but Clarke said the latter was a different batter to the former.

“Sachin was a different player to Virat Kohli. A lot of people throughout this Australian summer were saying Sachin did it in a Test match. He got out cover driving a couple of times and then he let it go and made a 200 at the SCG. Sachin is a different player to Virat. Virat’s greatest strength is bat on ball. He just plays it in a different way.”

Kohli will look to be at his best in the upcoming Champions Trophy.