10 things to know about Virat Kohli's return to Ranji Trophy

Virat Kohli is returning to Ranji Trophy after more than 12 years

Virat Kohli will be playing in India’s premier first-class tournament after over 12 long years. Kohli will feature in Delhi’s upcoming match against Railways at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi. Due to his swashbuckling international career, Kohli hasn’t featured in the first-class tournament since November 2012.

2. Kohli has played 23 Ranji matches in his career

Kohli has featured in 23 Ranji matches in his cricketing career. He has scored 1,574 runs in 36 innings in Ranji Trophy. Kohli’s highest score in Ranji Trophy is 173. His batting average in the premier tournament is 50.77 and he has hit five fifties and five hundreds in the historic tournament

3. Fans would not be able to watch the match on TV or livestream

The match would not be telecast on TV or livestream. Not all Ranji matches are broadcast on TV. The BCCI decides which matches go on TV after the schedule is out. With Kohli’s late inclusion, it is highly unlikely that Delhi’s match against Railways will be telecast as their match against Tamil Nadu was already telecast.

4. India’s current chief selector Ajit Agarkar dismissed him twice in his 22nd Ranji match

Interestingly, Virat Kohli was dismissed twice in his 22nd Ranji match in 2010. Facing Mumbai, Kohli was dismissed for 5 and 9 in the two innings, respectively. Notably, the match also featured Wasim Jaffer, Rohit Sharma, Unmukt Chand, Shikhar Dhawan,

5. Kohli will be looking to smash his 101st hundred in professional cricket

Kohli, who has hit 80 hundreds in international cricket, will be looking to smash his 101st hundred in professional cricket.

6. Virat Kohli has declined Delhi captaincy on Ranji Trophy return

Kohli was offered captaincy by the DDCA for the match against Railways. However, Kohli decided to decline the offer and play under the captaincy of 25-year-old Ayush Badoni.

7. Kohli has captained in 2 Ranji matches, Delhi have won both of them

Out of his 23 Ranji Trophy matches, Kohli has led Delhi in two of those matches and Delhi have won both the matches. Kohli captained Delhi in Ranji for the first time in December 2009. Delhi won that match by eight wickets. Kohli scored an unbeaten 88 off 86 deliveries to help delhi chase down the target. Days later, he led Delhi to 10-wicket win over Madhya Pradesh

8. Kohli arrived at practice in Porsche with ‘0018’ number plate

Kohli arrived at practice at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in his Porsche with ‘0018’ number plate. Kohli’s jersey number is also 18. Kohli had once said that there has to be a “cosmic connection” with his jersey number 18. He had said that the number was “just given” to him when he got his Under-19 jersey. “It ended up becoming…very important number in my life. My debut for India came on August 18, 2008. My father passed away on December 18, 2006,” he said.

9. Virat Kohli came to bat hours after his father passed away

Kohli came out to bat for Delhi in a Ranji Trophy match in 2006, hours after his father Prem Kohli had passed away. Kohli played a match-saving innings of 90 for his team before getting out due to an umpiring error. Kohli, who turned 36 on Tuesday, went straight to the funeral in Delhi after the knock.

10. The pavilion stand at Arun Jaitley Stadium is named after Kohli

The pavilions stand at the Arun Jaitley Stadium is named after Virat Kohli. “It is awkward for me to be playing in front of a pavilion named after me. I do not like to talk about it a lot. But it is a great honour and I feel happy and grateful about it, it is something I never felt would happen to me,” Kohli had once said.

The match will begin from January 30