Virat Kohli is all set to make his first Ranji Trophy appearance in over 12 years. The former India skipper has started his preparation for Delhi’s upcoming game against Railways at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in New Delhi.
This is on the back of BCCI’s new mandatory rule which makes domestic cricket compulsory for all cricketers. That saw the likes of Rohit Sharma, Rishabh Pant, Ravindra Jadeja and Shubman Gill return to the Ranji Trophy after prolonged periods.
Kohli missed the last round for Delhi due to neck spasms. According to reports, he had taken an injection for the same after the fifth Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in Sydney. Delhi lost the last game against Saurashtra in Rajkot. They have just one win from six matches this Ranji season.
It was back in November 2012 that Kohli last featured in a domestic red-ball game. He got scores of 14 and 43 in that match against Uttar Pradesh in Ghaziabad.
Videos of his preparations have been doing rounds. He was seen practising with former India batting coach Sanjay Bangar in Mumbai. The 36-year-old was facing throwdowns and seemed to be working on specifics.
His form hasn’t been the greatest in the recent past. His numbers since the start of 2024 read 440 runs at an average of 23.15 in Test cricket. His only ton came in the second innings in Perth. He has only five other scores of 25+ in this period. In fact, Kohli averaged 21.83 across 32 innings in international cricket in 2024.
DDCA making arrangements to host 10,000 fans at Kotla

The Delhi and District Cricket Association (DDCA) are making special arrangements for Kohli’s return to Ranji Trophy. According to reports on Dainik Jagran, they are in the process of bulking up security and making all arrangements to host fans.
The Delhi cricket board have made entry free and are preparing to host in excess of 10,000 fans. Thus, the North End and the Old Club House of the stadium will be open for the crowd. In addition to that, if there is a requirement for more seats, the officials will open up other stands but there would be no seats.
This is the last round of group-stage encounters in the 2024-25 edition of the Ranji Trophy. Kohli will feature in just one domestic game before he joins the Indian ODI team for the three-match ODI series in the lead-up to the Champions Trophy 2025.