Virat Kohli available for Delhi's Ranji Trophy match against Railways

Star India cricketer Virat Kohli has made himself available to play Delhi's Ranji Trophy fixture against Railways starting on January 30, said the state team's head coach Sarandeep Singh. If the former India captain plays the match, it will be his first Ranji Trophy game in over 13 years.

Earlier, Kohli was excluded from Delhi's squad for the January 23 match against Saurashtra due to neck stiffness.

The 36-year-old has has played 23 Ranji Trophy matches for Delhi and has scored 1,574 runs at an average of 50.77. He has registered five centuries, with his standout season coming in 2009-10 when he scored 374 runs in just three matches at an average of 93.50. In his last Ranji appearance during the 2012-13 season, the 36-year-old scored 57 runs.


One of the most defining moments of Kohli's career came in 2006 while playing for Delhi against Karnataka at the Arun Jaitley Stadium - then Feroz Shah Kotla. His father,Prem Kohli, passed away from heart attack during the course of the match. Kohli, who was unbeaten on 40 overnight, was deeply hurt by the news. Despite his grief, he returned to the field the next day and scored a crucial 90 runs for his team. Kohli attended his father’s funeral after the innings.

Virat Kohli's recent struggles

Kohli has struggled for consistency in Test cricket, enduring a prolonged lean patch despite flashes of brilliance. While he scored a century in the first Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy against Australia in Perth, his overall performance in the five-match series was underwhelming, managing just 190 runs in total.

He repeatedly chased deliveries outside the off stump, leading to all eight of his dismissals being strikingly similar. The batter appeared unable to address this glaring issue, and his frustration was evident.