England’s star batter Joe Root revealed that he never viewed Virat Kohli as a competitor, despite the frequent comparisons between them as part of the renowned ‘Fab Four’. With Kohli recently announcing his retirement from Test cricket, he will not feature in the upcoming five-match series against Ben Stokes’ England side.
Both Root and Kohli have been key figures for their teams, leading during pivotal phases and consistently delivering with the bat. Their prolific run-scoring and leadership drew constant parallels. However, Joe Root stated that he has always respected and admired Kohli’s game rather than seeing him as a rival.
“I’ve never been in competition with Virat. He is someone I’ve always admired, and thought, ‘Wow, what a player’. I’ll miss those battles we had on the field, but it provides opportunities for other players to try and put their mark on Test cricket,” Root said in a media interaction organized by Sony Sports Network (via The Hindu).
“Cricket feels emptier without them” – Joe Root on Kohli & Rohit’s retirements
The star batter also reflected on how the absence of Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma significantly alters the dynamic of the upcoming five-match series. In response, the Indian team has included debutant Sai Sudharsan and brought back Karun Nair after a seven-year gap to bolster their batting lineup.
“Cricket is poorer without them being around. They are two Indian legends. They’ve done amazing things for Indian cricket for such a long period of time. It’ll be a slightly different look to the series, but we still expect it to be highly competitive,” Root added.
With Rohit Sharma stepping away from Test cricket, India has appointed Shubman Gill as the new captain. Rishabh Pant has been named vice-captain, forming a fresh leadership duo as the team embarks on the 2025–27 World Test Championship (WTC) cycle.
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