There is a lot of talk around, how Virat Kohli should play in the Ranji Trophy for Delhi, to bounce back to form in international cricket. For the last few years, especially in Test cricket, Virat has been rather poor in the longest format of the game. And with each passing failure, the call are only getting stronger.
Virat Kohli’s Poor Returns
Just imagine, in the last 5 years, in 39 Tests he has only scored 2028 runs at an average of 30.72 only. In those, he has slammed three tons and 9 fifties, and a staggering five ducks. Upon looking closely, he only had a decent 2023 where in eight matches, he went on to score 671 runs at an average of 55.91, including two tons.. or else he would have struggled with even poorer numbers.
Anyways, there is no doubt, that Virat Kohli can only sort out his ‘outside off’ trouble playing the Ranji Trophy. So, it only makes sense, that we track down, what had happened when former India skipper last played in a domestic match in India.
Virat to Play Ranji Trophy?
This was a Ranji Trophy Group B match between UP and Delhi, in 2012, in Ghaziabad. And not just him, international stars like Gautam Gambhir, Virender Sehwag, Ishant Sharma also turned up for the team. As far as UP is concerned, players like Mohammad Kaif, Suresh Raina and Bhuvneshwar Kumar played the match.
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After batting first, Delhi scored only 235 in the first innings. Virat scored 14 and was removed by Bhuvi. Puit Bisht top-scored with 52, with Imtiaz Ahmed picking up a fifer. In reply, UP came up with a solid 403, with Ashish Nehra bagging three wickets for Delhi. In the next innings, Delhi did come up with a much-improved performance, but that was not enough to avoid a defeat.
Virender Sehwag smashed a ton in the middle-order, while Virat chipped in with 43. Eventually, UP won the match by six wickets as they scored 158/4 in 39.2 overs only.
