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Star Indian batter and former captain Virat Kohli is all set to return to domestic cricket after 13 years. The veteran batter has been named in Delhi’s squad for their Ranji Trophy 2024-25 match against Railways, scheduled to start on Thursday, January 30 at the Arun Jaitley Stadium. However, he confirmed his availability to feature in the match after the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) released the 10-point diktat, he is unlikely to take the helm.
According to the recent reports, Virat Kohli has declined to lead the side for the upcoming Ranji Trophy match despite being a veteran of the game. If the reports are to be believed, 25-year-old Ayush Badoni will continue to lead the side. Earlier, in the previous Ranji Trophy match, star Indian wicketkeeper-batter Rishabh Pant had also declined captaincy and played under Badoni's leadership.
Virat Kohli declines captaincy offer by DDCA ahead of game against Railways: Reports
According to a report published by Times of India (TOI), Kohli has declined captaincy with regular skipper Ayush Badoni leading the side. However, a confirmation on the same is still awaited from the DDCA. Apart from this, the 36-year-old trained with the Delhi team on Tuesday, January 28 ahead of his domestic cricket match.
Speaking of Virat Kohli, the Indian veteran played his final Ranji game against Uttar Pradesh at Ghaziabad’s Mohan Nagar in 2012. Ahead of his return, the DDCA has tightened the security with association having informed the Delhi Police for the same. Highlighting on the same the DDCA Secretary Ashok Sharma told PTI, "We know Virat's presence raises the profile of the match. We have 10 to 12 private security personnel for a regular Ranji match, but we will increase security so that Virat can train without any disturbance. We have also informed the Delhi Police about the match.”
Delhi’s squad for Ranji Trophy match against Railways
Ayush Badoni (captain), Virat Kohli, Pranav Rajvanshi (wk), Sanat Sangwan, Arpit Rana, Mayank Gusain, Shivam Sharma, Sumit Mathur, Vansh Bedi (wk), Money Grewal, Harsh Tyagi, Siddhant Sharma, Navdeep Saini, Yash Dhull, Gagan Vats, Jonty Sidhu, Himmat Singh, Vaibhav Kandpal, Rahul Gehlot, Jitesh Singh.