Former India captain Virat Kohli entertained fans with his signature on-field gestures while fielding for Delhi in a Ranji Trophy match against Railways at Arun Jaitley Stadium. A video of Kohli’s interaction with the crowd went viral as fans cheered him throughout the game.
Kohli returned to the Ranji Trophy after more than a decade following the Board of Control for Cricket in India’s mandate for national players to participate in domestic cricket when not on international duty. Fans flocked to the stadium in large numbers to watch the star player.
Kohli made himself available for the first-class fixture after struggling during India's recent five-Test tour of Australia. He scored 190 runs in the series, averaging 23.75, with one century. Kohli will look to get some runs under his belt ahead of India’s five-Test tour of England later this year.
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Kohli’s last appearance in the Ranji Trophy came in November 2012, when Delhi faced Uttar Pradesh in Ghaziabad. In that match, Kohli came to bat after Delhi had lost two quick wickets. He scored 14 runs in the first innings before being dismissed by Bhuvneshwar Kumar. In the second innings, Kohli added 43 runs before Bhuvneshwar dismissed him again. Delhi went on to lose the match by six wickets. After 12 years, Kohli is hoping to make his return to the Ranji Trophy memorable with a strong performance.
Kohli will next return to international cricket in the ODI series against England, starting on February 6 in Nagpur. The series will serve as preparation for the Champions Trophy, which begins on February 19. India aims for its third Champions Trophy title after winning in 2002 and 2013. India finished as runners-up to Pakistan in the 2017 edition.
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In the ongoing match, Delhi won the toss and elected to field first.
Delhi (Playing XI): Arpit Rana, Sanat Sangwan, Virat Kohli, Yash Dhull, Ayush Badoni(c), Pranav Rajuvanshi(w), Sumit Mathur, Shivam Sharma, Navdeep Saini, Money Grewal, Siddhant Sharma
Railways (Playing XI): Anchit Yadav, Vivek Singh, Suraj Ahuja(c), Upendra Yadav(w), Mohammad Saif, Bhargav Merai, Karn Sharma, Rahul Sharma, Himanshu Sangwan, Ayan Chaudhari, Kunal Yadav
