Cricketer Suresh Raina has called for the Indian government to bestow the Bharat Ratna on Virat Kohli following his stunning retirement update last week.
“The number of achievements Virat Kohli has accomplished, and whatever he has done for India and Indian cricket, for that he should be honoured with the Bharat Ratna. The Government of India should give him the Bharat Ratna award,” he told Star Sports.
Raina also urged the BCCI to give the ace cricketer a proper send-off with a ‘farewell match’ in Delhi. It remains unclear whether this will be possible considering that Kohli had announced an ‘immediate’ end to his Test cricket career last week. His last appearance in white had been during the recent tour of Australia. Kohli clocks out of the format with 9,230 runs from 123 appearances at an average of 46.85.
The retirement was a huge shock for many cricket fans as Kohli had been a mere 770 runs away from the coveted 10,000-run mark in Test cricket. Days later the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru paid tribute to the cricket superstar during an IPL clash against Kolkata Knight Riders — although the match itself was washed out without a ball being bowled.
The announcement also came a week after fellow cricketer Rohit Sharma announced his own departure from Test cricket. Both cricketers had made made their last appearance during the Australia tour. Sharma and Kohli had previously announced their retirement from the Twenty20 Internations last year. They are now likely to have their eyes set on the 2027 World Cup in South Africa.