How Indian Media Covered Virat Kohli's Test Retirement: A Bias Analysis
TL;DR: When Virat Kohli announced his Test retirement in January 2025, different media outlets told very different stories. Center outlets focused on statistics and emotional farewell. Left-leaning media highlighted his social stances (defending Shami, confronting bigotry). Right-wing outlets wrapped the coverage in nationalism while subtly noting past "controversies." This analysis reveals how even cricket coverage reflects India's media divide.
Virat Kohli is more than a cricketer—he's a cultural phenomenon. So when he announced his retirement from Test cricket on January 1, 2025, after 114 Tests and over 9,000 runs, the story was always going to be bigger than cricket.
What's revealing is how differently Indian media outlets covered this moment. The same retirement, the same career—yet the narratives diverged dramatically based on each outlet's political orientation.
This analysis examines how center, left-leaning, and right-wing media covered Kohli's farewell, and what it reveals about bias in Indian sports journalism.
The Retirement: What Actually Happened
On January 1, 2025, following India's crushing 3-1 series defeat to Australia, Virat Kohli announced his retirement from Test cricket.
The facts:
- 114 Test matches played
- 9,230 runs scored
- 30 centuries (including 7 double centuries)
- 50.04 average
- Most runs by an Indian captain in Tests
- Led India to #1 Test ranking
His announcement came via an emotional Instagram post, thanking fans, teammates, and the sport that defined his identity for over 17 years.
How Center Media Covered It
The Approach: Records, Emotion, Legacy
Mainstream outlets like Times of India, Hindustan Times, and India Today focused on what you'd expect: career statistics, emotional moments, and tributes from fellow cricketers.
Typical headlines:
- "Virat Kohli Bids Farewell to Test Cricket After Glorious 114-Match Career"
- "End of an Era: Kohli Retires from Tests with 9,230 Runs"
- "King Kohli's Test Journey: From Debutant to Legend"
Coverage patterns:
- Extensive statistical breakdowns
- Quotes from Sachin Tendulkar, MS Dhoni, Ravi Shastri
- Timeline of career highlights (Adelaide 2014, England 2018, etc.)
- Fan reactions from across India
- Analysis of what went wrong in Australia
What They Emphasized
Center outlets treated it as a sports story—significant, emotional, but fundamentally about cricket performance and legacy within the sport.
Key themes:
- Record-breaking achievements
- Evolution from aggressive youngster to mature leader
- The emotional farewell
- Statistical comparisons with other greats
- What his retirement means for Indian cricket
What They Downplayed
Notably absent from most center coverage:
- Kohli's occasional social and political stances
- The Mohammed Shami controversy and Kohli's defense of him
- His past confrontations with critics or trolls
- Any political dimension to his public persona
This reflects center media's tendency to keep sports in a separate, "apolitical" box—even when the sportsperson has ventured into political territory.
How Left-Leaning Media Covered It
The Approach: Legacy + Values
Outlets like The Wire, Scroll, Newslaundry, and Al Jazeera covered Kohli's retirement with additional context that center media largely omitted.
Their angle: Kohli wasn't just a great batsman—he was a public figure who, at key moments, took stances that mattered.
The Shami Defense
A central theme in left-leaning coverage was Kohli's defense of Mohammed Shami after India's 2021 T20 World Cup loss to Pakistan, when Shami faced communal abuse online.
The Wire and Al Jazeera specifically highlighted how Kohli publicly condemned the abuse:
"To pick a guy on the basis of religion... is the most pathetic thing a human being can do."
This moment—rarely mentioned in center or right-wing coverage of his retirement—was given significant space in left-leaning outlets as evidence of Kohli's character beyond cricket.
Confronting Online Bigotry
Left-leaning coverage also referenced other instances where Kohli pushed back against toxic fan behavior:
- His "leave India" response to a critic who said he preferred foreign batsmen
- Standing up for teammates facing communal targeting
- His foundation's social work
The narrative: Kohli's legacy includes using his platform for something beyond personal achievement.
Coverage Example
Al Jazeera's coverage explicitly framed Kohli's retirement within the context of Indian cricket's relationship with nationalism and communalism—a framing completely absent from TOI or India Today.
The Wire published analysis pieces connecting Kohli's career moments to broader social questions about celebrity responsibility in polarized times.
How Right-Wing Media Covered It
The Approach: Nationalist Framing
Right-leaning outlets like Republic TV, OpIndia, Zee News, and Times Now covered the retirement with distinctly nationalist framing.
Typical angles:
- "Nation Salutes King Kohli"
- "India's Pride Hangs Up Test Boots"
- "Kohli's Patriotic Legacy"
The Emphasis on National Service
Right-wing coverage emphasized Kohli's service to the nation, framing his cricket career as a form of patriotism. Statistics were presented in terms of national glory: "He carried India's honor for 17 years."
OpIndia and similar outlets celebrated Kohli's aggressive, combative style as quintessentially Indian spirit—the fighter who never backed down.
The Subtle Critiques
However, careful readers noticed guarded subtexts in some right-wing coverage:
The Shami defense was conspicuously absent—not criticized openly, but simply not mentioned. Given that this was a significant public moment in Kohli's career, its omission was notable.
Some outlets included lines like:
- "Despite occasional controversies, Kohli's commitment to Indian cricket was never in doubt"
- "His on-field aggression sometimes spilled into off-field moments"
These seemingly neutral phrases carried coded messages for readers who remembered what "controversies" meant—moments when Kohli's stance didn't align with their preferred narrative.
The Nationalism Without the Nuance
Right-wing coverage wrapped Kohli's farewell in the Indian flag but stripped away the specifics of what he stood for. His defense of a Muslim teammate facing communal hate didn't fit the narrative—so it simply wasn't part of the story.
Case Study: Same Moment, Different Frames
Let's examine how three outlets might have covered one specific moment: Kohli's emotional farewell statement.
Center (Times of India):
Focus: The emotion and gratitude
"An emotional Kohli thanked fans, family, and teammates in a heartfelt farewell statement..."
What's included: Quotes, career highlights, tributes
What's excluded: Any political context
Left-Leaning (The Wire):
Focus: Legacy beyond statistics
"Kohli's farewell caps a career marked not just by runs but by rare moments of social courage in Indian cricket's often-complicit silence on communal issues..."
What's included: Shami defense, standing up to bigotry, social impact
What's excluded: Nothing—but emphasis is on values over statistics
Right-Wing (OpIndia):
Focus: National pride
"India's lion bids farewell after carrying the nation's hopes for nearly two decades..."
What's included: Aggression, patriotism, fighting spirit
What's excluded: Shami defense, any non-cricket "controversies"
What This Reveals About Sports Journalism
1. Sports Isn't Apolitical
The myth that sports coverage is somehow above politics collapses when you compare how different outlets cover the same athlete. The choices about what to include, emphasize, or omit are inherently editorial—and often political.
2. Omission Is Also Bias
Right-wing outlets didn't criticize Kohli for defending Shami—they simply didn't mention it. This omission-based bias is harder to detect than overt spin but equally distorts the picture.
3. Center Media's False Neutrality
By treating Kohli's retirement as purely a sports story, center media also made a choice—to ignore the social dimensions of his public persona. This "neutrality" isn't neutral; it's a decision to depoliticize a figure who occasionally engaged with political questions.
4. Left Media's Context Addition
Left-leaning outlets added context that made their coverage more complete but also made editorial judgments about what aspects of Kohli's legacy mattered most. Not everyone will agree with those judgments.
The Bigger Picture: Celebrity Coverage and Bias
Virat Kohli's retirement coverage is a microcosm of how Indian media covers any major celebrity figure:
| Outlet Type | Typical Approach |
|---|---|
| Center | Focus on achievement, avoid controversy |
| Left | Include social stances, question power structures |
| Right | Nationalist framing, omit uncomfortable moments |
This pattern repeats whether the subject is a cricketer, a Bollywood star, or a business tycoon. The same person becomes three different people depending on which outlet you read.
How to Read Sports Coverage Critically
Questions to Ask:
- What's being emphasized? Statistics? Emotion? Social stances? Nationalism?
- What's missing? Did the outlet mention significant moments that others covered?
- What framing is used? Is this a sports story, a patriotism story, or a values story?
- Who's quoted? Only establishment figures? Critics? Fans?
- What language is used? "Controversies" is often code for something specific.
The Multi-Source Approach:
For major celebrity news, reading across the spectrum reveals:
- What center media considers "safe" to report
- What left media thinks is being overlooked
- What right media wants to emphasize (and hide)
Together, you get closer to the complete picture than any single outlet provides.
Conclusion: Three Kohlis, One Reality
Virat Kohli retired once. But if you read Times of India, you saw the statistical legend. If you read The Wire, you saw the cricketer who occasionally stood for something beyond cricket. If you read OpIndia, you saw the national hero with some unnamed "controversies."
None of these is the complete Virat Kohli. All of them are partially true. The bias isn't necessarily in what's false—it's in what's selected, emphasized, and omitted.
For news consumers, this is a reminder: even sports coverage carries bias. The "apolitical" nature of sports journalism is itself a political choice.
The real Kohli—complicated, talented, occasionally brave, sometimes controversial—exists somewhere between these framings. Finding that reality requires reading all of them and thinking for yourself.
That's the real skill for any news consumer in 2025: not finding the "unbiased" source, but understanding the bias in every source and constructing reality from the pieces.
Want to see how different outlets cover the same story differently? Try The Balanced News - we show you left, right, and center perspectives with AI-powered bias detection.
Sources & Citations
- Times of India - Virat Kohli Announces Test Retirement
- Al Jazeera - Virat Kohli's Test Legacy Beyond Numbers
- The Wire - Kohli's Farewell and Indian Cricket's Social Silences
- OpIndia - King Kohli's Glorious Test Career
- ESPN Cricinfo - Virat Kohli Test Career Statistics
- The Balanced News - Indian Media Year in Review 2025
