The Last Test: Virat Kohli’s Farewell Signals a New Era for India’s Biggest Brand Icon

• Virat Kohli announced his retirement from Test cricket on May 12, 2025, closing a 14-year chapter with 123 matches, 9,230 runs, and 30 centuries.
• His exit from the red-ball format signals a shift in Indian cricket leadership—and in the global branding playbook around elite athletes.

As a sports reporter following cricket’s business side for over a decade, you learn to separate moments from movements. Kohli’s retirement from Test cricket is both.

It was announced with quiet precision. No interview circuit. No emotional press conference. Just an Instagram post—stating what many had sensed, but few were ready to accept.

“As I step away from this format, it’s not easy — but it feels right.”

With those words, Virat Kohli closed a defining chapter not just in Indian cricket but in the way we understand brand identity in sport.

Test Cricket Was Always the Core

Kohli’s love for the format was public and personal. While the white-ball era brought him stardom, it was Test cricket that shaped his leadership, consistency, and myth.

Debuting against the West Indies in 2011, Kohli’s numbers quickly piled up:

• 123 matches
• 9,230 runs
• 30 centuries
• Average of 46.85
• 40 Test wins as captain (the most for India)

More than stats, he brought a style to the format—tenacity, risk, emotion—that often lacked glamour in the T20 age. He made the five-day grind look cinematic.

When India beat Australia in their backyard in 2018–19, Kohli wasn’t just lifting a trophy. He was repositioning Test cricket in India’s national psyche. That win became a branding moment as much as a sporting one.

Why He Became a Brand Icon

Virat Kohli’s brand power is rooted in more than just numbers. He combined relentless drive on the field with calculated restraint off it. His ability to evolve—stylistically and emotionally—kept him relatable to younger fans and reliable to established brands.

His public persona reflected values that resonated across borders: fitness, focus, family, and consistency. He brought the intensity of a footballer and the clarity of a CEO to every campaign he fronted.

Perhaps most impressively, Kohli built and maintained one of the largest fan communities in the world. With 271 million Instagram followers as of mid-2025, he stands among the most followed athletes globally. That digital reach gave every brand he touched instant access to a massive, engaged, and loyal audience.

What the Retirement Means for His Brand

Kohli’s commercial appeal has always transcended formats. As of 2025, his net worth is estimated to be over $125 million. He remains one of the highest-paid athletes globally, commanding endorsement fees between $1 and $2 million per deal.

Kohli ended his eight-year association with Puma in April 2025, declining a ₹300 crore renewal offer to focus on his own ventures. He is no longer a brand ambassador for Puma. He has since invested in Agilitas Sports, an Indian athleisure startup founded by former Puma India MD Abhishek Ganguly, where he now serves as both investor and ambassador.

Current brand associations now include:

• Audi India (luxury auto)
• Myntra (fashion)
• Noise (wearables)
• One8 (his own brand, which he plans to scale independently)
• Agilitas Sports (athleisure and performance gear)

Each of these deals taps into different aspects of Kohli’s identity—discipline, aspiration, and self-expression.

His Test career added weight to these narratives. It grounded him in a deeper story—about commitment, maturity, and staying power.

That angle shifts now.

We’re likely to see a pivot from performance-heavy messaging to more holistic themes: lifestyle, wellbeing, and longevity. His limited-overs presence continues, but the long-form gravitas Test cricket gave his brand will now fade into memory.

UK Market Response and Global Positioning

Kohli’s Test exits are being discussed in press rooms from Mumbai to Manchester. And there’s good reason.

The UK remains one of his strongest international fan bases, thanks to fierce India–England rivalries, the diaspora viewership, and iconic innings at grounds like Lord’s and Edgbaston.

British brand managers have often referenced Kohli’s composure and focus in Test matches when crafting campaign personas—especially for industries like finance, automotive, and apparel.

Post-retirement, the tone may evolve. Not diminished—just redirected.

Expect fewer back-foot cover drives on billboards and more yoga poses, interviews, and legacy stories.

Cricket celebrity endorsement in the UK will likely respond by giving more space to emerging players like Shubman Gill, Joe Root, or Ben Stokes. But Kohli’s brand capital isn’t going anywhere. It’s maturing.

Where the Brand Heads Next

Kohli is not done playing cricket. He remains active in white-ball formats and continues as a key face of the IPL.

But for those of us tracking his brand evolution, the retirement calls for new questions:

• How do legacy athletes maintain relevance without live feats?
• Will Kohli move into commentary, sports entrepreneurship, or philanthropy?
• How do brands preserve their edge without new on-field data points?

These are not concerns—they’re challenges with potential.

Kohli’s team has consistently been proactive. Expect carefully timed public appearances, personal narratives, and non-cricket ventures.

He’s already aligned with startup investments, fitness ventures, and lifestyle verticals. Now that can take centre stage.

A Broader Signal for Athlete Brand Strategy

Kohli’s Test retirement reminds us that brand-building in sport is about layers.

Winning matters. But the format you win in—Test cricket, in his case—can add depth that shorter formats can’t always deliver.

His story offers cues:

• Anchor your brand in values, not just results.
• Use long-form formats to build credibility.
• Plan the next chapter before the current one ends.

There’s a reason Kohli has 271 million Instagram followers and counting. It’s not just cricket. It’s clarity. Every move has narrative control.

Brands that stick with him into this new phase will need to match that precision.

They’ll also need to let go of past scripts and help write the next ones.

Because Test cricket may be behind him, but the innings, from a brand point of view, is far from over.