Afghanistan and Taliban leader Anas Haqqani has made a bold statement on the retirements of India’s cricket legends Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma.
Earlier this year, in May, both Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma retired from the longest format of the game ahead of the England tour.
Now, they are active only in the ODI cricket, having retired from the T20I cricket last year after winning the ICC T20 World Cup in the USA and the West Indies. Both Virat and Rohit are currently gearing up for their comeback in India colors on the Australia tour later this year.
Afghanistan leader Anas Haqqani says Virat Kohli retired too soon
Amidst the Asia Cup 2025 actions in the UAE, Anas Haqqani boldly said that Rohit Sharma’s decision to retire from Test cricket was understandable, but he feels Virat Kohli retired too soon from the longest format of the game that he loved playing the most.
Anas Haqqani said on Shubhankar Mishra’s podcast on his YouTube channel, “Rohit’s retirement from Tests was justified. I don’t know the cause behind Kohli’s retirement. Very few people across the world are that unique. I would like him to play till 50.”
Notably, Kohli ended his 14-year Test career on May 12 with a staggering 9,230 runs in 123 matches to his name.
Media pressure forced Virat Kohli to retire early!!
Haqqani suggested that Kohli could have continued playing if he had maintained his fitness. He also hinted that media pressure in India may have influenced Kohli’s decision, saying he is one of the rare players in history who has the unique talent and drive.
He also mentioned Joe Root, who continues to chase Sachin Tendulkar’s world record in Test cricket. While Root has so far amassed 13543 runs, Tendulkar has 15921 runs to his name.
Haqqani further mentioned, “Maybe he was irritated by the media in India. He still had time. You can see Joe Root chasing Sachin Tendulkar’s tally of Test runs.”
Even Chris Gayle recently admitted that Kohli left Test cricket too early. Gayle had stated, “Oh yeah, very early. Very early. You know, for whatever reason, I don’t know, but Cricket will miss him 100%. Cricket will miss him. He’s a massive, massive figure for the game of cricket.”
Anas Haqqani calls Glenn Maxwell’s 200 in the 2023 ODI World Cup a Tragedy
Meanwhile, Anas Haqqani also reacted to Glenn Maxwell’s unforgettable innings against Afghanistan in the 2023 ODI World Cup. He noted that it was “a good thing” the match wasn’t played in Afghanistan, as Maxwell wouldn’t have scored 200 runs on home soil in Kabul.
He signed off by saying, “About Maxwell, it’s a good thing that he was very far from us that night. He wouldn’t have hit 200 in Kabul. It was a tragedy even from Cricket’s point of view. Then next year in the T20 World Cup, we defeated them.”
Notably, there are reports that Kohli and Rohit might feature for India A in three List A matches against Australia A in Kanpur before the Australia tour, which will kick off on October 19 at the iconic Optus Stadium in Perth.