Thousands of fans have filled a stadium in the Indian capital, Delhi, as Virat Kohli makes his much-anticipated return to domestic cricket after more than 12 years.
The 36-year-old star batter has turned out for Delhi on Thursday in the Ranji Trophy match against the Railways team at the well-attended Arun Jaitley stadium.
Kohli’s return follows the national cricket board’s directive for contracted players to play domestic cricket after India’s 3-1 Border-Gavaskar Trophy loss to Australia.
It also comes amid a personal lean patch in Test cricket, where the former Indian captain has struggled for consistency in recent years.
One of India’s greatest batters, Kohli has redefined modern cricket with his aggressive and technically sound batting. With more than 27,000 international runs across formats, he has been the backbone of India’s middle order for more than a decade.
But his red-ball form has dipped in recent years. Kohli averaged 54.97 in Test cricket until 2019, but since 2020, it has dipped to 30.72 – and just 22.47 in his last 10 Tests.Since the start of 2024, his average of 23.2 is the ninth lowest among players with a minimum of 10 innings. (BBC)