Will Virat Kohli play in the Ranji Trophy?

Several major Indian Test stars – Rohit Sharma, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Ravindra Jadeja, Rishabh Pant, Shubman Gill – are set to feature in the next round of the Ranji Trophy, to begin from January 23, 2025. A neck injury will keep Kohli out of that round, for Delhi’s game against Saurashtra.

However, Kohli has confirmed his availability for the match after that – Delhi’s last of the league stage – against Railways, from January 30.

When was the last time Kohli played in the Ranji Trophy?

Kohli last played a Ranji Trophy game in 2012-13, against Uttar Pradesh at Ghaziabad – a city in UP but considered the part of the National Capital Region – a vast area with Delhi as the centre. It is one of those geography things. To explain how it worked, one need not look beyond the giant banner put up in the ground for the match: it featured four “Pride of Ghaziabad” cricketers – Manoj Prabhakar, Robin Singh Jr (both Delhi), Suresh Raina, and Sudeep Tyagi (both UP).

Even at that point Kohli was not a regular at that level: his last Ranji appearance before that was back in 2010-11. In other words, he has played exactly one game in the competition since the start of 2011 – a 14-year period. It also remains his only game in the tournament since his Test debut.

Quiz: How well do you know Virat Kohli?

From 23 games in the Ranji Trophy, Kohli has 1,574 runs at 50.77 with five hundreds. His most iconic performance came in 2006-07 when, up against Karnataka’s 446, Delhi had finished the second day on 103-5 with Kohli on 40. Kohli’s father passed away that night, but he stayed back against the advice of coach Chetan Chauhan and captain Mithun Manhas. He got 90, then his highest score, helping Delhi avert the follow-on.

Until the IPL, Indian cricketers used to be more or less regulars in domestic cricket. However, the relentless toil over the two-month league (including travel in a vast nation) has added to their workload. The T20 World Cup, played every two years, and the T20Is played in their preparation, have also resulted in an adjustment of the cricketer’s calendar.

However, the BCCI’s recent emphasis on contracted cricketers having to play domestic cricket has resulted in the big stars returning to the competition.

Also read: How did Rohit Sharma fare in his last Ranji Trophy game ten years back?

At Ghaziabad, long ago

The Uttar Pradesh attack consisted of Praveen Kumar and Bhuvneshwar Kumar, the Meerut maestros who had honed their new-ball skills at the Victoria Park. While Praveen had already played for India, Bhuvneshwar – spotted by Praveen – was about to. Led by Suresh Raina, UP also boasted of Mohammad Kaif.

The Delhi openers, captain Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir, had been opening batting for India in Test cricket not too long ago. Kohli batted at four, below Unmukt Chand, who had led India to the Under-19 World Cup title that year. Ishant Sharma and Ashish Nehra formed a strong new-ball attack.

Medium-pacer Imtiaz Ahmed (5-59) led the rout as UP shot out Delhi for 235 after opting to field. Delhi’s top eight all reached double figures but wicketkeeper Punit Bisht (52) made the only fifty. Kohli fell to Bhuvneshwar for 14. UP then rode on a 196-run second-wicket stand between Mukul Dagar (116) and Kaif (91) to amass 403.

Having injured a finger, Sehwag dropped down the order. Chand, opening in his place, fell to the first ball he faced, and Kohli walked out in the second innings.

Gambhir (47) and Kohli (43) – their paths would cross again several times for numerous reasons – added 70 for the second wicket in about an hour’s cricket. Bhuvneshwar got Kohli for the second time in the match.

Eventually emerging at six, Sehwag assumed control immediately, adding 58 for the fifth wicket with Manhas and dominating the 85-run seventh-wicket stand with Pradeep Sangwan. In all, he hit 19 fours in a 165-ball 107 to help Delhi avert an innings defeat.

Not that it helped. UP won comfortably by six wickets.