India great Virat Kohli retires from test cricket

NEW DELHI, India (AP) — India great Virat Kohli retired from test cricket Monday after playing 123 matches in his glorious 14-year red-ball career.

Kohli made his test debut in 2011 against West Indies and has been India's standout batter since Sachin Tendulkar’s retirement in 2013.

“As I step away from this format, it’s not easy — but it feels right,” Kohli posted on Instagram. “It’s been 14 years since I first wore the baggy blue in Test cricket. Honestly, I never imagined the journey this format would take me on. It’s tested me, shaped me, and taught me lessons I’ll carry for life.”

The 36-year-old Kohli’s retirement comes only days after Rohit Sharma stepped down from test cricket, taking two senior batters out of selection contention for India's tour to England. India will need to select a new skipper and reshape its batting order for the five-test series starting June 20.

Kohli scored 9,230 runs including 30 centuries and 31 half-centuries at a test batting average of 46.85. He also led India in 68 test matches and was India’s most successful captain with 40 test wins.

The former India captain is one of the highest-profile people in cricket, with 271 million followers on Instagram and almost 68 million on X, and he owns batting records in the longest and the limited-overs formats. He's expected to continue playing one-day international cricket, and he's still heavily involved in the lucrative Twenty20 Indian Premier League, which was suspended last Friday for a week following the escalating military tensions with Pakistan.

Kohli said the traditions and ebbs and flows of the five-day format were special to him, including “the quiet grind, the long days, the small moments that no one sees but that stay with you forever.”

“I am walking away with a heart full of gratitude — for the game, for the people I shared the field with, and for every single person who made me feel seen along the way,” he wrote. "I will always look back at my test career with a smile. #269, signing off.”

Kohli finished as India’s fourth highest scorer in tests after Tendulkar (15,921), Rahul Dravid (13,265) and Sunil Gavaskar (10,122). He also scored the most double centuries for India in tests — seven — one more than the legendary Tendulkar.

His crowning glory in test cricket, though, came as captain. His 40 test wins set a record for an India captain, surpassing MS Dhoni (27 from 60 tests) and Sourav Ganguly (21 from 49 tests).

He finished fourth in the all-time list of most wins as test captain, behind South Africa’s Graeme Smith (53 from 109 tests), and Australia’s Ricky Ponting (48 from 77 tests) and Stephen Waugh (41 from 57 tests).

Kohli also led India to the International Cricket Council's No. 1 ranking in test cricket after taking over from Dhoni in 2014-15, and helped his side maintain a stronghold on that position for five years.

In 2018, he guided India to its first ever test series victory against Australia in Australia.

Speculation over Kohli’s test future has intensified since India's five-test tour of Australia finished in January. After scoring a 30th test hundred in Perth, Kohli’s series tapered off and he finished it with 190 runs in nine innings at average 23.75. Still, his impact on the game in India and around the cricket world has been huge.

“Thank you, Virat Kohli. An era ends in test cricket but the legacy will continue forever," the Board of Control for Cricket in India posted in a statement on X. "His contributions to team India will forever be cherished!”

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FILE - India's captain Virat Kohli kisses the field after scoring a double-century during day two of the first cricket Test match against West Indies at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium in North Sound, Antigua, on July 22, 2016. (AP Photo/Ricardo Mazalan, File)

FILE - India's Virat Kohli watches the ball after playing a shot during play on the second day of the fourth cricket test between Australia and India at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, Melbourne, Australia, on Dec. 27, 2024. (AP Photo/Asanka Brendon Ratnayake, File)

FILE - India's Virat Kohli gestures to a member of a crowd during play on the first day of the fourth cricket test between Australia and India at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, Melbourne, Australia, on Dec. 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Asanka Brendon Ratnayake, File)

FILE - India's Virat Kohli carries the winners' trophy as he celebrates after India won the ICC Men's T20 World Cup final cricket match against South Africa at Kensington Oval in Bridgetown, Barbados, on June 29, 2024. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa, File)

FILE - India's Virat Kohli plays a shot during the third one day international cricket match between India and England in Ahmedabad , India, on Feb. 12, 2025. (AP Photo/ Ajit Solanki, File)

FILE - Royal Challengers Bengaluru's Virat Kohli plays a shot during the Indian Premier League cricket match between Royal Challengers Bengaluru and Chennai Super Kings at Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru, India, on May 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Aijaz Rahi, File)

FILE - Royal Challengers Bengaluru's Virat Kohli warms up before the start of the Indian Premier League cricket match between Delhi Capitals and Royal Challengers Bengaluru at Arun Jaitley Stadium in New Delhi, India, on April 27, 2025. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup, File)

FILE - Britain's Queen Elizabeth II joins the captains of the teams taking part in the ICC Cricket World Cup for a photograph in the 1844 Room at Buckingham Palace, before a Royal Garden Party in London, on May 29, 2019. Back row from left, Pakistan's Sarfaraz Ahmed, South Africa's Francois du Plessis, Bangladesh's Masrafe Bin Mortaza, Sri Lanka's Dimuth Karunaratne, New Zealand's Kane Williamson and Afghanistan's Gulbadin Naib. Front row from left, West Indies' Jason Holder, Australia's Aaron Finch, England's Eoin Morgan and India's Virat Kohli. (Yui Mok/Pool photo via AP, File)

FILE - India's Virat Kohli, celebrates his hundred runs during the World Cup Pool B match against Pakistan in Adelaide, Australia, on Feb. 15, 2015. (AP Photo/James Elsby, File)

FILE - India's Virat Kohli and teammates celebrate with the winners trophy on the podium after defeating New Zealand in the final cricket match of the ICC Champions Trophy at Dubai International Cricket Stadium in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, on March 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Christopher Pike, File)

Royal Challengers Bengaluru's Virat Kohli, center, enters the field for the Indian Premier League cricket match between Chennai Super Kings and Royal Challengers Bengaluru at Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru, India, Saturday, May 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Aijaz Rahi)

Royal Challengers Bengaluru's Virat Kohli plays a shot during the Indian Premier League cricket match between Royal Challengers Bengaluru and Chennai Super Kings at Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru, India, Saturday, May 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Aijaz Rahi)

Royal Challengers Bengaluru's Virat Kohli plays a shot during the Indian Premier League cricket match between Royal Challengers Bengaluru and Chennai Super Kings at Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru, India, Saturday, May 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Aijaz Rahi)

Royal Challengers Bengaluru's Virat Kohli catches the ball before passing it on to the bowler during the Indian Premier League cricket match between Royal Challengers Bengaluru and Chennai Super Kings at Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru, India, Saturday, May 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Aijaz Rahi)

WASHINGTON (AP) — Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado discussed her country's future with President Donald Trump at the White House on Thursday, even though he has dismissed her credibility to take over after an audacious U.S. military raid captured then-President Nicolás Maduro.

Trump has raised doubts about his stated commitment to backing democratic rule in Venezuela and signaled his willingness to work with acting President Delcy Rodríguez, who was Maduro’s No. 2. Along with others in the deposed leader’s inner circle, Rodríguez remains in charge of day-to-day government operations and was set to deliver her first state of the union speech Thursday.

In endorsing Rodríguez so far, Trump has sidelined Machado, who has long been a face of resistance in Venezuela. She also had sought to cultivate relationships with Trump and key administration voices like Secretary of State Marco Rubio among the American right wing in a gamble to ally herself with the U.S. government.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Trump had been looking forward to the lunchtime meeting with Machado and called her “a remarkable and brave voice” for the people of Venezuela. But Leavitt also said Trump's opinion of Machado had not changed, calling it "a realistic assessment."

Trump has said it would be difficult for Machado to lead because she “doesn’t have the support within or the respect within the country.” Her party is widely believed to have won 2024 elections rejected by Maduro.

Leavitt went on to say that Trump supported new Venezuelan elections “when the time is right” but did not say when he thought that might be.

Leavitt said Machado sought the face-to-face meeting without setting expectations for what would occur. Machado previously offered to share with Trump the Nobel Peace Prize she won last year, an honor he has coveted.

“I don’t think he needs to hear anything from Ms. Machado," the press secretary said, other than to have a ”frank and positive discussion about what’s taking place in Venezuela.”

Machado spent about two and a half hours at the White House but left without answering questions on whether she'd offered to give her Nobel prize to Trump, saying only “gracias."

After her White House stop, Machado plans to have a meeting at the Senate. Her Washington visit began after U.S. forces in the Caribbean Sea seized another sanctioned oil tanker that the Trump administration says had ties to Venezuela.

It is part of a broader U.S. effort to take control of the South American country’s oil after U.S. forces seized Maduro and his wife at a heavily guarded compound in the Venezuelan capital of Caracas and brought them to New York to stand trial on drug trafficking charges.

Leavitt said Venezuela's interim authorities have been fully cooperating with the Trump administration and that Rodríguez's government said it planned to release more prisoners detained under Maduro. Among those released were five Americans this week.

Rodríguez has adopted a less strident position toward Trump then she did immediately after Maduro's ouster, suggesting that she can make the Republican administration's “America First” policies toward the Western Hemisphere, work for Venezuela — at least for now.

Trump said Wednesday that he had a “great conversation” with Rodríguez, their first since Maduro was ousted.

“We had a call, a long call. We discussed a lot of things,” Trump said during an Oval Office bill signing. “And I think we’re getting along very well with Venezuela.”

Even before indicating the willingness to work with Venezuela's interim government, Trump was quick to snub Machado. Just hours after Maduro's capture, Trump said of Machado that “it would be very tough for her to be the leader.”

Machado has steered a careful course to avoid offending Trump, notably after winning the peace prize. She has since thanked Trump, though her offer to share the honor with him was rejected by the Nobel Institute.

Machado’s whereabouts have been largely unknown since she went into hiding early last year after being briefly detained in Caracas. She briefly reappeared in Oslo, Norway, in December after her daughter received the Nobel Peace Prize on her behalf.

The industrial engineer and daughter of a steel magnate began challenging the ruling party in 2004, when the nongovernmental organization she co-founded, Súmate, promoted a referendum to recall then-President Hugo Chávez. The initiative failed, and Machado and other Súmate executives were charged with conspiracy.

A year later, she drew the anger of Chávez and his allies again for traveling to Washington to meet President George W. Bush. A photo showing her shaking hands with Bush in the Oval Office lives in the collective memory. Chávez considered Bush an adversary.

Almost two decades later, she marshaled millions of Venezuelans to reject Chávez’s successor, Maduro, for another term in the 2024 election. But ruling party-loyal electoral authorities declared him the winner despite ample credible evidence to the contrary. Ensuing anti-government protests ended in a brutal crackdown by state security forces.

Garcia Cano reported from Caracas, Venezuela, and Janetsky from Mexico City. AP Diplomatic Writer Matthew Lee in Washington contributed to this report.

Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado gestures to supporters on Pennsylvania Avenue as she leaves the White House after meeting with President Donald Trump Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)

Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado waves to supporters on Pennsylvania Avenue as she leaves the White House after meeting with President Donald Trump Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)

Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado smiles on Pennsylvania Avenue as she leaves the White House after meeting with President Donald Trump Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)

Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado waves to supporters on Pennsylvania Avenue as she leaves the White House after meeting with President Donald Trump Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)

FILE - U.S. President George Bush, right, meets with Maria Corina Machado, executive director of Sumate, a non-governmental organization that defends Venezuelan citizens' political rights, in the Oval Office of the White House, Washington, May 31, 2005. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak, File)

FILE - Opposition leader Maria Corina Machado gestures to supporters during a protest against President Nicolas Maduro the day before his inauguration for a third term, in Caracas, Venezuela, Thursday, Jan. 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos, file)