Kohli's 'have you eaten' gesture at fans, breaks into laughter after getting two section of Delhi crowd into contest

Virat Kohli may not have taken the field to bat after Delhi opted to bowl, but he kept the fans engaged throughout

The DDCA (Delhi and Districts Cricket Association) had their plans only to welcome close to 10,000 fans at the Arun Jaitley Stadium for Delhi's final group game in the Ranji Trophy, against Railways. But such is the aura of Virat Kohli, who returned to domestic cricket after 12 years, that those lofty calculations went for a toss. The DDCA initially opened the 6,000-capacity 'Gautam Gambhir Stand' for the spectators, but amid a massive crowd, who were waiting from 5 am in the morning to catch of glimpse of the superstar, they were forced to open the 'Bishan Singh Bedi Stand' which can accommodate around 11,000 people.

Delhi's Virat Kohli on the first day of a Ranji trophy cricket match between Delhi and Railways, at the Arun Jaitley Stadium, in New Delhi, Thursday, Jan. 30, 2025 (PTI)

Kohli may not have taken the field to bat after Delhi captain Ayush Badoni opted to bowl in the crucial group fixture, which would be the main attraction of the spectators, but the former India captain kept the fans engaged throughout with various gestures, thanking them for coming to the venue in numbers to support the team.

In one of the videos that went viral on social media, Kohli, while fielding in the slip, got two sections of the Delhi crowd into a contest of who could cheer louder. He turned into a moderator as he raised his hands towards the section of the crowd to his right as they went berserk, and then asked them to stop, before asking the ones on his left to cheer and then burst into laughter looking at one of his teammates.

The 36-year-old, as seen in the clip, was more convinced with the section of the crowd on his right as he made a thumbs-up gesture towards them. He then turned towards the other section of the crowd and made a 'have you eaten' gesture.

Railways score 241 in 1st innings

Wicketkeeper-batter Upendra Yadav's 95 off 177 and a patient half-century from No. 7 Karn Sharma saw Railways bounce back from a poor start to finish with 241 runs in the first innings.

Left-arm pacer Siddhant Sharma reduced the visitors to 21 for two by the sixth over, before Navdeep Saini dismissed opener Vivek Singh for a duck on the next ball. After a moment of resistance from M Saif, Money Grewal picked two wickets in two balls to send Railways to 66 for five.

But just when then spectators reckoned they could finally get a glimpse of Kohli batting, Upendra and Karn frustrated the Delhi attack with their century stand. For the home team, Saini and Sumit Mathur were the pick of the bowlers with their three-fers.