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Former India cricketer Ravichandran Ashwin believes that Virat Kohli’s Test retirement worked out well for his IPL team, Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB), because it exponentially improved his T20 game.

Kohli announced his retirement from Test cricket on May 12, 2025, at the age of 36, concluding a 14-year career in the format. While his red-ball career was on a downward spiral for the previous few years, he was still an important member of the team, who could have continued for longer in his favorite format.

Since then, Kohli has only been playing ODIs, List-A domestic cricket, and the IPL. And Ashwin, who spent years closely observing him both on the team and against him in the league, believes the clarity shows in his improved technique. The biggest change for Kohli has been in his strike rate, which has gone from the low 120s to the higher 150s since mid-2024.

“Virat was still playing Test cricket in 2024. He was very still, the bat wouldn’t move much," Ashwin said on Jio Star. “But now, here in 2026, the bat is down initially, and later he brings it up, which we call potential energy, or the constant movement of the bat, and he is getting into lovely positions. In 2024, his head was so still that even the movement of his feet was balanced, because he was still playing Test cricket then, in 2026, since he doesn’t play Test cricket anymore, he doesn’t have to control his hands as much and is letting them go, going for more shots," he said. Former India all-rounder Irfan Pathan agreed.

“Because of that backlift, he is getting that momentum, more power, and that is why the strike rate has gone up, when you are standing still in the prelude, before the bowler bowls, you don’t get the momentum that you want to create to go for big shots, but when you bring the bat down, then up again, you already have that momentum," Pathan said.

RCB are at the top of the IPL 2026 points table with back-to-back wins.