Days after Virat Kohli’s test retirement, former India head coach Ravi Shastri said he asked the former captain a couple of questions when he called to retire from test cricket.

He said that the former captain was very clear in his mind that the time was right to walk away from the format he liked the most.

Speaking to the ICC, Ravi Shastri said that Kohli harboured no regrets, reinforcing his belief that it was indeed the right moment for his favourite protege to bid farewell to red-ball cricket.

Virat Kohli has shocked the cricketing world by announcing his immediate retirement when he was just 770 runs shy of reaching the 10,000 run milestone in Test cricket.

It is reported that Virat Kohli had already informed the Indian Cricket Board (BCCI) about his decision to retire from Tests, although the BCCI had been keen to persuade him to play in the upcoming test tour of England, which begin on June 20.

Kohli went ahead with his retirement, releasing a heartfelt farewell not where he explained why he chose to leave behind the format that ‘tested me, shaped me and taught me lessons I’ll carry for life.’

“I did speak to him about it. His mind was very clear,” Shastri said.

“I spoke to him, I think, a week before the announcement, and his mind was made up – he felt he had given everything he had.”

“There were no regrets. I asked him one or two questions – a personal conversation – and he was very clear: there were no doubts in his mind. That made me feel, ‘Yes, the time is right’. His mind had told his body it was time to go.

“Ideally, everyone might want to carry on. But, then he looks at the bigger picture. He feels he can contribute massively in the one-day game. There is a lot of franchise cricket left for him in his life,” Shastri added.

Ravi Shastri has praised the impact Kohli made on Test cricket and its global audience, saying it would for anyone to replicate the kind of intensity Kohli brought to the game in whites.

However, the former head coach admitted he still believed Kohli could have continued playing test cricket for another couple of years.

“Virat surprised me because I thought he had at least two or three more years of Test cricket left in him,” Shastri said.

“But when you’re mentally fried and overcooked, that’s what sends signals to your body. You might be the physically fittest guy around – fitter than half the team – but if your mind is done, as they say, it tells the body, ‘That’s it’.”

Virat Kohli’s test retirement comes after five days after Rohit Sharma’s departure from longest format.

The senior selection committee and team management will have to fill the void as they prepare to select the squad for the five-test series against England starting on June 20.