Star batter Virat Kohli is sweating out in the nets ahead of his much-awaited return to Ranji Trophy action for Delhi. Kohli missed Delhi’s match against Saurashtra, which the latter won by 10 wickets inside two days. Kohli is expected to make his return to Ranji Trophy for the first time since 2013, with Delhi set to take on Railways in the next round of matches, starting January 30. Ahead of his anticipated return, Kohli hit the nets in Mumbai under the watchful eyes of former India batter Sanjay Bangar.
In a viral video, Kohli and Bangar can be seen having a discussion, and the latter was even giving throw downs to the former.
Virat Kohli working with Sanjay Banger in Mumbai. pic.twitter.com/T4zEhC2D2f
— Mufaddal Vohra (@mufaddal_vohra) January 25, 2025
Kohli will link up with India teammate Rishabh Pant at Delhi, with the team set to take on the Railways side next week.
Following the team’s collective failure in Australia, BCCI introduced a new policy for players, touching on several aspects like luggage, family involvement in tours, playing domestic cricket etc. As per the new policy, the player’s family time during away tours has been restricted to just 14 days.
Virat, who could just make 190 runs in 10 innings during the recently-concluded Border-Gavaskar Trophy, was among players who came under scrutiny after the 1-3 series loss to Australia. Virat ended the last year with just 655 international runs in 23 matches and 32 innings, averaging 21.83, with a century and two fifties to his name. His best score was 100*.
Virat has been facing a massive decline in his Test performances that dates back to the start of 2020. In 39 Test matches since the start of 2020, Virat has scored just 2,028 runs at an average of 30.72, with just three centuries and nine fifties to show. His best score is 186.
Virat ended the ICC World Test Championship 2023-25 cycle with 751 runs in 14 matches and 25 innings at an average of 32.65, with two centuries and three fifties. His best score was 121.
In 10 Tests last year, he scored just 417 runs at an average of 24.52 with just one century and fifty, to conclude a disappointing year.
(With ANI Inputs)
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