Anas Haqqani, a leader of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan and the Taliban movement, is seemingly a keen follower of cricket as well. In fact, Haqqani expressed his opinion on the sudden Test retirements of Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma. Kohli and Rohit, two veteran stalwarts of Indian cricket, announced their Test retirement in May 2025, just ahead of India’s five-Test tour of England. Haqqani said that he was surprised by Kohli’s decision to announce his Test retirement, and expressed his wish that Kohli continue to play till he turns 50.
“Rohit’s retirement from Tests was justified. I don’t know the cause behind Kohli’s retirement. Very few people across the world are that unique. My wish is that he tries to play till he is 50,” Haqqani stated, speaking in an interview with Shubhankar Mishra.
“Maybe he was frustrated by the media in India. He still had time. You can see Joe Root chasing Sachin Tendulkar‘s tally of Test runs,” Haqqani further said.
Kohli, 36, called time on his Test career on May 12, 2025, falling short of the milestone of 10,000 Test runs by just 770 runs.
On the other hand, Rohit had announced his own retirement from the longest format five days prior to Kohli, on May 7, 2025.
Following their retirements, the Test captaincy was handed to 25-year-old Shubman Gill, who impressed as India pulled off a 2-2 draw against England away from home.
Meanwhile, Kohli and Rohit are now active in just one format – ODIs. The duo are expected to return to action in October, when India travel to Australia for three ODIs.
Currently, India are competing in the Asia Cup 2025, having registered a massive victory over United Arab Emirates (UAE) in their opening match. India and Afghanistan may take each other on in the Super Four stage if both nations qualify.
