New Delhi: Virat Kohli has made himself available for Delhi’s Ranji Trophy game against Railways beginning on January 30 after pulling out of their clash against Saurashtra with a neck sprain.
With the Board of Control for Cricket in India making it mandatory for national team players, Kohli was included among probables list for the Saurashtra match that begins on January 23.
But Kohli cited a neck stiffness to withdraw and as per a report on Monday, he is available for selection against Railways.
“Virat Kohli is available for the Ranji Trophy fixture against Railways on January 30. He had some neck stiffness, so he wasn’t available for the match against Saurashtra. We are really happy that he has decided to represent Delhi after all these years,” a Delhi and District Cricket Association (DDCA) source told Hindustan Times.
Kohli’s last appearance in a Ranji Trophy was in 2012. In 2023 matches for Delhi, the former India skipper has scored 1574 runs at an average of 50.77 included five hundreds.
He was most prolific in the 2009-10 season, amassing 374 runs in only three matches at an average of 93.50. The right hander scored 57 runs in his last Ranji appearance in the 2012-13 season.
Poor form in BGT
The 36-year-old has been subjected to stringent criticism for his poor form with the bat in the Border-Gavaskar series, which India lost 1-3 in Australia.
Kohli managed only 190 runs in nine runs in the bouncy conditions Down Under, scoring a century in the first Test at Perth. But his weakness outside the off-stump against the moving ball was capitalised to the hilt by the Australian pacers.
He was dismissed poking outside the off stump to be caught at the slip cordon eight times. After being dismissed in similar fashion in the second innings of the concluding Test in Sydney Test, Kohli expressed his frustration by hitting his head and pad angrily.
His prolonged lean patch with the willow coupled with India’s failure to qualify for the World Test Championship led to calls of dropping him from the Test team in India’s next assignment away in England in June.
Virat Kohli had cited a neck stiffness to withdraw from Delhi’s Ranji Trophy match against Saurashtra but has made himself available for selection against Railways. Cricket Sports News: Latest Cricket News, Cricket Live Score, Sports Breaking News from Sports Today
