Virat Kohli’s much-awaited return to Ranji Trophy cricket with Delhi was somewhat anti-climactic, as he was only able to register 6 runs in a 15-delivery innings when he came to the crease at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi.
Kohli was one of those mandated to return and play domestic cricket, but his wicket at the hands of Railways’ Himanshu Sangwan just placed more pressure when expectations were high. However, one of Kohli’s former teammates came to his defence, with Ambati Rayudu backing up his former Indian captain on social media.
Posting on X, Rayudu wrote: “Right now Virat Kohli (doesn’t) need Ranji. His technique was good for 81 hundreds (and) it will be good going forward as well.”
The Border-Gavaskar Trophy heaped pressure on Kohli, as he fell in a repetitive fashion to outside edges against seamers despite a century in the first match in Perth. This led to several questions about his standing in Test cricket, with him getting bowled clean through the gate against Railways not helping matters.
