Come January 30, all roads in the national capital Delhi will lead to the Arun Jaitley Cricket Stadium.
After 13 long years, the wait is finally over – Virat Kohli is set to make his much-anticipated return to Ranji cricket, and there’s no better place for it than the Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi.
As winter slowly gives way to the crisp Delhi weather, fans are already buzzing with excitement, eager to witness the cricketing maestro in action once again on home soil. The atmosphere will be electric as passionate supporters are set to throng the stadium, with the cool, clear skies adding to the thrill of the occasion. The attention of fans thronging the stadium will be fixed on the talismanic Virat Kohli’s batting performance in the coming four days.
Delhi, with a very slim mathematical chance to enter the Ranji Trophy knockouts, face Railways in their final Group D clash of the season starting on Thursday (Jan 29).
Following the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI’s) recommendation for Indian players to play domestic cricket, when possible, Kohli is set to play a Ranji Trophy game for the first time in 13 years. A neck spasm delayed his Ranji Trophy return in Rajkot, but Kohli is now almost certain for his Ranji Trophy homecoming at a place where he began his journey to become an integral part of the Indian team across all formats.
Also Read: Virat Kohli Ranji Trophy Return Live Updates: Batter focuses on backfoot shots
At the centre of every move Kohli makes in the match against Railways, his batting will come under supreme focus on a green pitch, as claimed by Delhi captain Ayush Badoni, to try and get an outright win.
Dismissals outside off-stump largely defined Kohli’s struggles in the 3-1 Test series defeat in Australia, his unbeaten Perth century being a notable exception. Now coming into the Delhi team after working on his game with former India and RCB batting coach Sanjay Bangar in Alibaug, it will be intriguing to see how Kohli shapes with the bat in a game where he’s the cynosure of all eyes and cameras.
With Rishabh Pant not available and Pranav Rajvanshi likely to come in, Kohli joining the Delhi team is a huge help for their batting line-up, which was completely outplayed on a Rajkot pitch that turned from the start, resulting in a crushing ten-wicket defeat for them.
The exciting possibility of bowling to Kohli in a Ranji Trophy match presents a chance for fast-bowlers Himanshu Sangwan (who previously played for Delhi), Kunal Yadav, Purnank Tyagi, and Rahul Sharma to rise to prominence by outsmarting the batting stalwart.
Squads:
Delhi: Ayush Badoni (captain), Virat Kohli, Sanat Sangwan, Arpit Rana, Yash Dhull, Jonty Sidhu, Himmat Singh, Navdeep Saini, Money Grewal, Harsh Tyagi, Siddhant Sharma, Shivam Sharma, Pranav Rajvanshi (wk), Vaibhav Kandpal, Mayank Gusain, Gagan Vats, Sumit Mathur, Rahul Gahlot, Jitesh Singh, Vansh Bedi.
Railways: Pratham Singh (captain), Vivek Singh, S A Ahuja, Upendra Yadav (wk), Mohammad Saif, B H Merai, Anchit Yadav, Karn Sharma, Purnank Tyagi, Kunal Yadav, Himanshu Sangwan, K T Marathe, Ravi Singh, Ayan B Chaudhari, and Rahul Sharma.
(With inputs from agencies)