Virat Kohli is available for the team’s last league match of the Ranji Trophy.© AFP
Indian superstar Virat Kohli is set to play his first Ranji Trophy game since 2012 after making himself available for Delhi’s tie against Railways scheduled here from January 30. Kohli could not make it for Delhi’s upcoming away clash against Saurashtra, beginning on January 23, due to a neck sprain but he has communicated to DDCA that he is available for the team’s last league match of the Ranji Trophy. “Virat has conveyed to DDCA president (Rohan Jaitley) and team management that he is available for the game against Railways,” Delhi head coach Sarandeep Singh told PTI.
Kohli has last played a Ranji Trophy match way back in 2012, against Uttar Pradesh at Ghaziabad’s Mohan Nagar. Ironically, the legendary Sachin Tendulkar played his final Ranji game against Haryana at Lahli in 2013.
After the BCCI made Ranji Trophy participation mandatory, only two among all star batters are missing out — Kohli for Delhi and KL Rahul for Karnataka due to an elbow niggle.
The biggest stars, who are playing, include India skipper Rohit and Yashasvi Jaiswal (Mumbai vs J&K), Rishabh Pant (Delhi vs Saurashtra), and Shubman Gill (Punjab vs Karnataka).
The Delhi team will be led by Ayush Badoni after Pant told the DDCA top boss Jaitley that he wouldn’t like any tinkering of leadership just for a single game when his Lucknow Super Giants colleague is doing a fine job. He wanted continuity in leadership.
In the squad there are five U-23 players, who, after a training session in Rajkot, will leave for Bhilai to play in an U-23 CK Nayudu Trophy game against Chattisgarh.
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