Virat Kohli finally speaks out on retirement speculations following India's Champions Trophy victory

India's star batsman Virat Kohli has put an end to speculations about his retirement, affirming that he will continue representing the country. Kohli made this statement shortly after Rohit Sharma and his team emerged victorious in the Champions Trophy 2025 final against New Zealand. Although the retirement question was not directly posed to him, the ex-captain of India clarified his commitment to playing for India in the foreseeable future.

While speaking to Simon Doull after India's win, Virat said he would leave once he felt the current players could take the baton ahead and continue winning matches for the country.

Before posing the question to Virat, former New Zealand pacer Simon Doull said that whenever the India batter decides to retire, he leaves the baton in very capable hands.

Answering the question, Kohli said, “Oh, for sure. I mean, you know, I, as Shubman said, I try to speak to these guys as much as possible, try to share my experience, how I've been able to play for so long, try to step in wherever I can to help improve their games and yeah, it's only, as they rightly say, when you leave, you want to leave the place in a better position.”

“That's our effort, you know, that's what we're striving for that when eventually we are finally done at whatever stage, we have a squad that's ready to take on the world for the next 8-10 years, and these guys definitely have the talent to do so and also the game awareness and, you know, they've stepped up already, so many impactful innings, this guy's played Shreyas, beautiful, KL's been finishing games, so Hardik's a match winner,” he added.

‘Wanted to bounce back after tough Australia tour’

After India registered a memorable four-wicket win over the Kiwis in the Champions Trophy final, Kohli revealed that his side wanted to bounce back after a disastrous Border-Gavaskar Trophy against Australia, where India lost the five-match series 1-3.

“Firstly, we wanted to bounce back after a tough Australia tour, wanted to win a big tournament and we ended up doing that. So, it's an amazing feeling, lovely playing with a bunch of such amazing youngsters, so much talent in the change room and, you know, they're taking Indian cricket forward in the right direction,” said Kohli.

“We're only happy to help, you know, share our experience and try to make an impact whenever we get a chance. These guys are stepping up in a massive way and that's why we are such a strong team,” he added.

Virat Kohli disappointed in the final against New Zealand, scoring just 1 run off two balls. However, he had a campaign to remember, registering 218 runs in five matches, including one century and one fifty.

“I think to win titles, which has kind of been missing in the past, the whole team has to step up in different games and if you see this tournament over the course of five matches, everyone has put their hand up somewhere or the other and that's why we ended up winning this tournament,” said Kohli.

“People have made such impactful knocks, such impactful spells and it's only a collective effort that can win you a title and I'm just so happy that we were able to play as a unit, just really enjoy ourselves,” he concluded.

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