Virat's Ranji Returns Strength The Delhi | Kohli Comeback in Ranji Trophy
Indian superstar Virat Kohli is set to play his first Ranji Trophy game since 2012 after making himself available for Delhi’s tie against Railways scheduled here from January 30.
"Virat has conveyed to DDCA president (Rohan Jaitley) and team management that he is available for the game against Railways," Delhi head coach Sarandeep Singh told PTI.
After back-to-back Test series defeats at the hands of New Zealand at home and away in Australia, there have been questions from several quarters over the continued reluctance of India regulars to feature in domestic first-class matches. Ahead of the Test season, the likes of Kohli, Rohit Sharma, and Ravindra Jadeja chose to skip the Duleep Trophy. And in the review meeting held last Thursday, requiring players featuring in domestic tournaments was the top recommendation. Subsequently, Rohit, Jadeja, Rishabh Pant, and Shubman Gill made themselves available for the sixth round of Ranji fixtures that begin on Thursday, where Mohammad Siraj and KL Rahul will also play for Hyderabad and Karnataka.
The BCCI has made playing domestic cricket mandatory for its contracted cricketers unless there is a fitness issue following the series loss in Australia earlier this month.
Of late, BCCI rolled out a strict 10-point policy for Indian cricketers, one of which mandates all players to participate in the Ranji Trophy. The BCCI diktat came after India's back-to-back flop show in Tests, which saw them suffer a clean sweep against New Zealand and a dismal outing in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, where they lost the five-match outing 1-3, marking the end of their dominance in Australia. Kohli managed to score just 190 runs across nine innings despite a century in the series opener in Perth.
For Delhi, the availability of Pant and Kohli will be a huge boost as the race for knockout spots heats up. After five rounds, which ended mid-November, Delhi are fourth in Group D, with Tamil Nadu, Chandigarh, and Railways above them. With Tamil Nadu playing Chandigarh in the sixth round, if Delhi manage to get three points or a win against Saurashtra, their match against Railways will become all the more important as a win will take them to the quarterfinals.
For Delhi, Kohli last played a Ranji Trophy match in 2012, where Delhi faced Uttar Pradesh in Ghaziabad. After a decade, it is the first time that Virat Kohli will play for Delhi in any Ranji Trophy match.
Virat Kohli to take part in Delhi's Ranji Trophy clash against Railways: DDCA sources
Delhi's Ranji Trophy squad:
Ayush Badoni (captain), Sanat Sangwan, Arpit Rana, Yash Dhull, Rishabh Pant, Jonty Sidhu, Himmat Singh, Navdeep Saini, Money Grewal, Harsh Tyagi, Siddhant Sharma, Shivam Sharma, Pranav Rajvanshi, Vaibhav Kandpal, Mayank Gussain, Gagan Vats, Ayush Doseja, Rounak Waghela, Sumit Mathur, Rahul Gahlot, Jitesh Singh.
Virat Kohli to be added to this squad.
