Blitz Bureau
NEW DELHI: Former India captain Virat Kohli, who has confirmed his availability for Delhi’s next Ranji Trophy match has joined a practice session at the Arun Jaitley Stadium ahead of a match against Railways, starting from January 30.
Kohli last played Ranji Trophy game in 2012, against Uttar Pradesh in Ghaziabad. During the practice session on January 28, Kohli took part in several group running and fielding drills, and also engaged in brief football sessions with his Delhi teammates.
Earlier, it was reported that Kohli has confirmed his availability for Delhi’s next Ranji Trophy match and will play against Railways in the clash that will be played from January 30 to February 2 at the Arun Jaitley Stadium. Kohli himself has been very keen to play this match, which he communicated to the DDCA.
There has been a lot of pressure on the Indian red-ball team members to play domestic matches after the abject batting failure in Australia as the Indian team barely crossed 150 runs in its first innings in most of the Test matches. In five Tests of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, Kohli scored just 190 runs and was dismissed eight times chasing deliveries outside the off-stump.
Delhi are currently in fourth place in the Elite Group D table with 14 points from five games and need wins in their remaining two games to have a chance at qualifying for the knockout stages.
The final round of Ranji Trophy group games will end four days before India’s first ODI against England in Nagpur on February 6.
Kohli is part of the ODI squad for the three-match bilateral series in the lead-up to the Champions Trophy from February 19. Besides Kohli, wicketkeeper batter Rishabh Pant is also playing for Delhi in the Ranji Trophy games.
