You will see Virat Kohli playing Test cricket for another five years: Sanjay Bangar

Former team India batting coach Sanjay Bangar expects Virat Kohli to play Test cricket for another five years. The 35-year-old recently announced his retirement from T20Is, which prompted doubts about his future in the other two formats. The star batter, however, hasn’t clarified his future ambitions or retirement plans as he remains in the scheme of things for both Tests and ODIs.

Bangar believes that Kohli has the necessary fitness to play red-ball cricket for many more years but added that it ultimately depends on how his body feels. The 51-year-old also stated that Test cricket will be the last format he will give up on as he is very passionate about doing well against the red ball.

“The players' careers are going to get longer, and in that process, if it benefits the Indian team, nothing like it. Even with Virat, [it] depends on his body. The last format that he would give up away will be Test cricket. So, I am sure that you will see Virat playing Test cricket for another five years,” Bangar said in the Rao podcast.

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Kohli has played 113 Tests so far and has made 8848 runs at an average of 49.15. He is expected to play 10 more matches in the next six months as India are slated to host Bangladesh and New Zealand in a two and three-match series respectively before travelling to Australia for the five-match Border-Gavaskar Trophy, slated to begin on November 22.

Bangar also stated that Rohit Sharma will continue to play Test cricket as long as his body allows him. He mentioned that the likes of Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid played the format until they were almost 40 and in recent times, the fitness standards have only improved, which will allow the players to prolong their career.

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“I think Rohit will continue to play as long as his body and fitness allows him to. Because a player of that quality – Sachin played till 40, even Rahul played till 40 – with better fitness standards, more professionals are looking after players. Like a lot of nutritionists also are helping,” Sanjay Bangar added.