Ranji Trophy: Kohli returns as Delhi win toss, elect to bowl first against Railways

Kohli’s last Ranji Trophy game for Delhi came against Uttar Pradesh in Ghaziabad in November 2012.

New Delhi: Virat Kohli confirmed to play a Ranji Trophy match after 12 years as Delhi won the toss and elected to bowl first against Railways in their Elite Group D match of the ongoing season at the Arun Jaitley Stadium on Thursday.

Kohli’s last Ranji Trophy game for Delhi came against Uttar Pradesh in Ghaziabad in November 2012. But following the BCCI’s policy for Indian players to play domestic cricket when possible, Kohli turn out for Delhi in the Ranji Trophy.

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His return comes at a time when Delhi, at sixth place with 14 points, have a very slim mathematical chance to enter the Ranji Trophy knockouts. They need an outright win over fourth-ranked Railways, but that may not be enough to enter the knockouts.

Such has been the craze of seeing Kohli in action in the Ranji Trophy that security officials at the stadium told IANS that fans had been lining up outside since 3am to enter the venue. With an overwhelming crowd outside the venue chanting relentlessly for Kohli and RCB, DDCA sources told IANS that Gate Number 18 has been opened after Gates 16 and 17 were opened.

Railways, on the other hand, will be led by Suraj Ahuja after regular skipper Pratham Singh was unavailable due to injury.

For Delhi, Kohli comes in for Jonty Sidhu, Pranav Rajvanshi replaces Rishabh Pant and pacer Money Grewal enters in for left-arm spinner Harsh Tyagi.

Playing XIs

Delhi: Sanat Sangwan, Arpit Rana, Yash Dhull, Virat Kohli, Ayush Badoni (c), Pranav Rajvanshi (wk), Sumit Mathur, Shivam Sharma, Navdeep Saini, Money Grewal, and Siddhant Sharma.

Railways: Anchit Yadav, Vivek Singh, Mohammad Saif, Suraj Ahuja (c), Upendra Yadav (wk), Bhargav Merai, Karn Sharma, Ayan Chaudhary, Himanshu Sangwan, Kunal Yadav, and Rahul Sharma