Virat Kohli Set for Ranji Trophy Comeback After 13 Years, to Play for Delhi Against Railways

India’s senior batter Virat Kohli is set to return to domestic cricket with a one-off appearance for Delhi in the Ranji Trophy 2024-25 round seven match against Railways, starting Thursday at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi.

Kohli’s highly anticipated comeback has become the highlight of the final round, even as 15 teams remain in contention for the seven remaining quarter-final spots. The 36-year-old has been working on his game following a challenging Border-Gavaskar Trophy series in Australia, where he struggled against deliveries outside the off-stump.

With the BCCI recently mandating senior Indian players to participate in domestic cricket, Kohli will don the Delhi jersey for the first time in 13 years. He missed the previous round due to a reported neck sprain.

His last Ranji Trophy appearance for Delhi came in the 2012-13 season, during a match against Uttar Pradesh in Ghaziabad. In that game, Kohli scored 14 and 43 across two innings in a six-wicket loss for Delhi. Notably, he was dismissed by Bhuvneshwar Kumar in both innings. The match also featured Indian internationals Gautam Gambhir, Virender Sehwag, Ishant Sharma, and Ashish Nehra, while the opposition had the likes of Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Praveen Kumar, Suresh Raina, and Mohammed Kaif.

Since making his Ranji debut for Delhi against Tamil Nadu in November 2006—where he scored 10 in his only innings—Kohli has played 23 matches in India’s premier red-ball tournament. Over six years, he amassed 1,574 runs in 36 innings at an impressive average of 50.77, registering five centuries and as many half-centuries.

His highest Ranji Trophy score came in Delhi, when he smashed a 267-ball 173 against Bengal in November 2010 while batting at number three.