Virat Kohli will train with the Delhi team on Tuesday (January 28), two days before the start of the seventh round of the Ranji Trophy 2024-25, ahead of their fixture against Railways at the Arun Jaitley Stadium. It was going to be his first appearance in domestic red-ball appearance since 2012 when he faced Uttar Pradesh at Ghaziabad.
Delhi’s coach, Sarandeep Singh, confirmed that Virat Kohli would join the squad, having confirmed his availability last week for the final group game from January 30 to February 02. The veteran decided to refuse their previous encounter against Saurashtra at the Niranjan Shah Stadium, citing a neck injury,
The top-order batter’s participation in this round came after the BCCI made it mandatory to be part of the domestic games with the new rules and regulations to contracted players following their 3-1 series defeat against Australia in the five-match Test series of the Border Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25 down under.
Virat Kohli had a tough period at home in the three-match Test series against New Zealand with 93 runs in six innings at an average of 15.50, shouldering on just one half-century that came during the second innings of the series opener at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru.
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With low confidence, he reached Australia as questions were raised over his abilities. In the second innings of the very first Test at the Optus Stadium in Perth, he cracked an unbeaten knock of 100 runs as they grabbed a 295-run victory under the leadership of Jasprit Bumrah, in the absence of Rohit Sharma, who was unavailable due to the paternity leave.
Virat Kohli is to train with Delhi on January 28; KL Rahul is included for Karnataka
But it hasn’t moved smoothly since then. The 36-year-old finished the series with just 190 runs in nine innings at an average of 23.75. Apart from that century, he could manage only 90 runs in the eight innings and kept on repeating the same mistakes throughout the five games.
Over the last couple of days, a few photos have been circulated of Virat Kohli’s batting practice with the former Indian and RCB batting coach, Sanjay Bangar, at a training facility in Mumbai. The final round of the group stage of the Ranji Trophy will end just four days before the first ODI against England in Nagpur.
Kohli is a part of the 50-over squad for the three-match bilateral series in the lead-up to the Champions Trophy from February 19, where India will face Bangladesh in their campaign over a day later.
KL Rahul has been named in Karnataka’s squad for their must-win contest against the table-toppers, Haryana, in Bengaluru later this week. He was included by the KCA with subject to fitness, but the reports have confirmed that the medical panel of the BCCI has cleared his position from the elbow niggle that kept him out of the previous match against Punjab.
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Rahul’s return means that Karnataka will be at its full strength, with Devdutt Paddikal and Prasidh Krishna also being part of the squad. This is Rahul’s first first-class appearance for Karnataka in nearly five years since the semi-final against Bengal at the Eden Gardens.
Riyan Parag was declared fit to play the next round for Assam, whom he will lead, after recovering from a shoulder injury. For Virat Kohli, it will be a huge game against Railways, not only for his form but also for Delhi’s position in the Ranji Trophy 2024-25.