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Fans thronged the Arun Jaitley Stadium as Virat Kohli turnd up for his first Ranji Trophy game after more than 12 years.
Virat Kohli at the Arun Jaitley Stadium for the Ranji Trophy (X)
The Delhi and Districts Cricket Association (DDCA) secretary Ashok Sharma said the scenes at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in the national capital as Virat Kohli made his return to domestic cricket in the Ranji Trophy fixture between Delhi and Railways.
Thousands of fans queued up to watch the superstar in an unprecedented rush that forced administrators to make additional last-minute arrangements.
The DDCA had projected a crowd of around 10,000 for Kohli’s homecoming, which is unheard for a Ranji Trophy game. But such was his magnetic pull that even those lofty calculations went for a toss.
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Long before the start of play at 9.30am local time, the 36-year-old Kohli’s loyal band of supporters were jostling to enter the stadium where entry is free for domestic matches.
At first, the DDCA opened the roughly 6,000-capacity ‘Gautam Gambhir Stand’ for spectators but sensing that the crowd situation could go out of hand, the officials were forced to open the ‘Bishan Singh Bedi Stand’ which can accommodate around 11,000 people.
What added to the commotion was the movement of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s cavalcade past the ground at the same time.
“I have been involved in Delhi cricket for more than 30 years but I have not witnessed such scenes for a Ranji Trophy game. It just shows the Kohli’s popularity is unmatched,” an overwhelmed DDCA secretary Ashok Sharma told PTI.
“What made it more challenging was that fans entering the stadium coincided with the VIP movement of PM Modi on the outside roads and as part of his strict security protocol and to maintain order, we were instructed by the police to open another stand for the public,” he revealed.
The ‘Gautam Gambhir Stand’ was already packed to the rafters and it hardly took time to fill the lower tier of the ‘Bishan Bedi Stand’, taking the crowd count well past 12,000 at toss.
The deafening roars of “Kohli, Kohli” could be heard from a distance as the former India captain took the field with the rest of the Delhi teammates who too were experiencing something special.
(With inputs from Agencies)
