“Virat Kohli Bharat should be honored with the Ratna Award”

Former Indian cricketer Suresh Raina opined that the government of India should bestow the prestigious Bharat Ratna award on Virat Kohli. The ex-Indian captain took everyone by surprise last week by announcing his retirement from Tests. Kohli, who made his Test debut back in 2011, finished as India’s fourth highest run-getter in Tests with 9230 runs to his name.

Raina wants Bharat Ratna for Kohli

Speaking on JioHotstar, Raina reckoned that Kohli should be awarded the Bharat Ratna for his contribution to Indian cricket. So far, Sachin Tendulkar is the only cricketer to have received the honour.

“Virat Kohli should be honoured with the Bharat Ratna award for his contribution towards Indian cricket,” Raina said.

No more Virat in Tests

Taking to social media platform, Kohli penned a note announcing his decision to step away from Tests. His decision comes just ahead of the India vs England Test series, which also marks the start of the new World Test Championship (WTC) campaign. India will now be without the services of two of their most-experienced players – Rohit and Kohli.

Virat made his Test debut in 2011 against West Indies at Kingston. He is the fourth highest run-getter for India in the longest format of the game, with 9230 runs from 123 matches, and averages 46.85. Kohli needed just under 800 more runs to overtake the legendary Sunil Gavaskar and become the third leading run-scorer for India.

As per The Indian Express report, Kohli had been contemplating his future in Test cricket since the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. The veteran batter had a rather miserable series, managing to score just 190 runs in 9 innings, averaging 23.75. His problem with playing outside the off deliveries led to him being dismissed in that fashion 8 out of 9 times.