Virat Kohli to Play Under Captaincy of Ayush Badoni in Ranji Trophy; Rishabh Pant Ruled Out

India’s star batter, Virat Kohli, is set to return to domestic cricket after nearly 15 years. He will play for Delhi in their Ranji Trophy match against Railways, starting January 30. Kohli will be under the captaincy of Ayush Badoni. His last appearance in the Ranji Trophy was in November 2008 against Uttar Pradesh.

Kohli missed Delhi’s last match against Saurashtra due to a neck injury. However, he has been practicing with former batting coach Sanjay Bangar at a farmhouse in Alibaug to regain his rhythm. Meanwhile, Rishabh Pant, who played in Delhi’s previous game, has been ruled out for this match.

BCCI Encourages Senior Players to Regain Form

Kohli has been struggling with form since the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, even though he managed to score a century. To help senior players like him regain their confidence, the BCCI has encouraged them to participate in domestic cricket.

Earlier, Rohit Sharma played a Ranji Trophy match after ten years but scored only 31 runs in two innings. Rishabh Pant, too, underperformed in his last outing against Saurashtra. On the other hand, Ravindra Jadeja showed his class in a Ranji match against Delhi, taking 12 wickets in two innings.

With the Champions Trophy approaching, senior players are under pressure to deliver consistent performances. Kohli will aim to regain his form in this match before joining the Indian squad for the ODI series against England, beginning February 6 in Nagpur.

Delhi’s Squad Against Railways

Captain: Ayush Badoni

Players: Virat Kohli, Pranav Rajvanshi (wk), Sanat Sangwan, Arpit Rana, Mayank Gusain, Shivam Sharma, Sumit Mathur, Vansh Bedi (wk), Money Grewal, Harsh Tyagi, Siddhant Sharma, Navdeep Saini, Yash Dhull, Gagan Vats, Jonty Sidhu, Himmat Singh, Vaibhav Kandpal, Rahul Gehlot, Jitesh Singh.