Virat Kohli's retirement post on social media sparked a certain degree of intrigue among fans. Not the entire post, though, just the final bit, where he mentioned "#269' at the end. It left many wondering what the number signified.
Ending days of speculation, Kohli ended his Test career on Monday just days after captain Rohit Sharma did the same. He announced his retirement on Instagram, with a lengthy caption and a picture of himself.
In the social media post, Kohli looked back at his 14-year career in Test cricket, having made his debut in 2011, and the lessons he learned through the ups and downs of his career. At the end of the post, Kohli mentioned: “#269, signing off.”
What does '#269' mean?
Every player is allotted a cap number during their international debut, irrespective of the format. It signifies the chronological order in which a player made their debut for their national team in a specific format. '269' was Kohli's cap number, implying he was the 269th player to debut for India in Test cricket. The number was allotted to him when he made his first appearance in Test cricket in 2011 in the series against West Indies, under the leadership of MS Dhoni.
Kohli signs off as India's fourth-highest run-getter
The 36-year-old drew curtains on his Test career with 9230 runs in 123 appearances, making him the fourth-highest run-scorer in the format behind Sachin Tendulkar (15,921), Rahul Dravid (13,265) and Sunil Gavaskar (10,122). He stands behind the same trio in the list of Test centuries, with Kohli having 30 such scores to his name. Seven of those were double tons, the most by an Indian batsman, and he sits behind only Brian Lara, Kumar Sangakkara and Don Bradman in the overall list.
Kohli's greatest achievement in Test cricket came during his captaincy reign between 2014 and 2022, during which India won 40 of the 68 Tests he led, making him the greatest-ever leader India have had. Overall, only Graeme Smith (53), Ricky Ponting (48) and Steve Waugh (41) won more Tests as captains.
Kohli, who quit Twenty20 Internationals immediately after India won their second World Cup in the West Indies last year, will likely to remain available for one-day international selection.