Paramilitary forces have been deployed at the Arun Jaitley Stadium following an overwhelming turnout of fans for Virat Kohli's return to domestic cricket. The former India captain is playing in the Ranji Trophy 2024-25 fixture between Delhi and Railways.
The Delhi and District Cricket Association (DDCA) made entry free for the match, leading to massive crowds both inside and outside the stadium. A long queue formed as early as 3 a.m. IST with fans eager to witness Kohli's first Ranji Trophy appearance in 13 years.
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The situation escalated when a fan breached security and ran onto the field to meet Kohli. Security quickly escorted the fan off the pitch, but the incident prompted officials to increase safety measures. Paramilitary forces were deployed around the stadium to ensure order.
A photo shared on social media showed paramilitary personnel stationed outside the boundary line after the security breach. The additional security presence was put in place to maintain order as the fan frenzy continued.
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.
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.
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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.
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
