Former England captain Michael Vaughan is not a happy man because Virat Kohli has retired from Test cricket. The veteran bid adieu to the format he loved the most before the five-match series against England. Vaughan mentioned that no other cricketer has done more for the five-day format than the star Indian batter.

Kohli ended his 14-year Test career on May 12. The 36-year-old played 123 Tests, scoring 9,230 runs at an average of 46.85, including 30 centuries. “I don’t feel genuinely disappointed at too many Test retirements. But I am gutted that I won’t see Virat Kohli in England this summer or in whites anymore,” Vaughan wrote in his column for The Telegraph.

“I am shocked that he has retired, and I am sad about it. I haven’t seen any cricketer in the last 30 years who has done more for Test cricket than Virat.”

Kohli retired as the most successful Indian captain in Test cricket with 40 wins in 60 matches. The former England captain credited Virat for reigniting Team India’s passion for red-ball cricket, saying that Test cricket wouldn’t have been enjoyable without him.

“India were losing interest in Test cricket before Virat Kohli became their captain,” he added.

“MS Dhoni was one of the greats in white-ball cricket, but he led the team that didn’t love Test cricket. The game needed India to perform well in red-ball cricket, and this is what Virat did as captain. His passion and skills were tailor-made for Test matches, and he took the format to new heights. He invested and showed interest.”

Vaughan called Kohli the greatest player across formats and called his Test retirement a big blow.

“His retirement is a big blow to Test cricket. His likeness for the format will inspire the generations to follow him and play Test cricket.

“It is not easy to compare players across eras, but if you look at it, since T20 was introduced 20 years ago, Virat is the greatest player when you take three formats into consideration.”