Former Australia cricketer Greg Chappell has said that Virat Kohli's Test retirement was due to lack of mental clarity and not his prolonged poor form.

Kohli recently announced his retirement from Tests ahead of the all-important tour of England. The star batter had been enduring poor form in the longest format since 2020 and hence people believed that it was Kohli's inability to match his old consistency that pushed him into retirement.

However, Greg Chappell feels that it was more due to the lack of mental clarity that the former India captain . Chappel mentioned that Kohli accepted that his body was faltering as his mind wasn't in line with it.

"His decision was not born of diminished skill, but from the growing realisation that he could no longer summon the mental clarity that had once made him so formidable. He accepted that, at the highest level, unless the mind is sharp and decisive, the body falters," Chappell wrote in his column for ESPNcricinfo.

Furthermore, Chappell mentioned how lack of mental clarity can affect decision-making and footwork at the crease.

"When doubt begins to settle in the bones, it disrupts decision-making, impairs footwork, and erodes the spontaneity essential to elite performance. Kohli's retirement is a reminder that form is more a function of the mind than it is of mechanics," Chapell wrote.

at an average of 46.85 with 30 centuries and 31 fifties to his name. He had been enduring poor form since 2020, having scored just 2028 runs from 39 matches (69 innings) at an average of 30.72 with three hundreds and nine fifties to his name. Since 2024, he scored 440 runs to his name from 11 matches (21 innings) at an average of 23.15 with one hundred and one fifty to his name.

Due to prolonged poor form, his Test average has also taken a massive hit and dropped from 54.97 in 2019 to 46.85 by the end of his career.