Virat Kohli spreads the love in Delhi
Virat Kohli's return to the Arun Jaitley stadium for a Ranji Trophy match after 12 years has sparked excitement and nostalgia among fans and teammates.
New Delhi: The Arun Jaitley stadium has witnessed many legends walk its turf but for the last couple of days, it’s belonged to one man. For a city that has claimed Virat Kohli as its own -- even as he shifted base to Mumbai and more recently, London -- his return for a Ranji Trophy match after 12 years is not just a cricketing event, it’s a blend of many, many emotions.
The yearning, awe and nostalgia have placed the questions around his recent form on the backburner. At least, briefly.
His team-mates, most of whom may have been in school when he last played a game for his state back in 2012, have admitted to wanting to impress the star in what is their first-ever interaction with them.
At one moment on Wednesday, the net got tangled, prompting Kohli to drop to his knees and attempt to fix it with his bat. A couple of youngsters quickly joined in, trying to help before the groundsmen stepped in to resolve the issue -- almost as if to say ‘You’ve returned after so long, let us take care of it.’
For instance, Ayush Badoni, the skipper of the team, has played against Kohli in the Indian Premier League before but believed it was right to pave way for the senior when he stepped into the nets for throwdowns. It was only after Kohli insisted that they could alternate against throwdown specialist Abhishek Saxena did Badoni relent.
On Wednesday, Badoni was respectful but maintained that he had not been overwhelmed by the idea of captaining stars. “I am very grateful that Rishabh [Pant] and Virat bhaiyya [Kohli] are playing under me. The presence of big players is a very good feeling so we are very motivated,” he said.
“I have played against him [in IPL] so I have handled the pressure before but it will be fun to play with him this time.”
Against Railways, Badoni will vacate his own batting slot with Kohli batting at No 4. Motivated by Kohli’s presence, the skipper said they were looking for an ‘outright win’. The green-top pitch indicates that they will likely play an extra pacer.
While it was a young eight-year-old whose day was made by Kohli on the first day of training, there were several others who were obliged by their favourite on the next day. Railways players may be raring to go up against the international legend come Thursday, but they were happy to click selfies before the contest truly begins.
The ground staff smiled a little wider when they too got to be in the same frame as Kohli.
The spectators held their phones aloft, recording every flick, every pull shot, every cover drive, while others simply watched and soaked these moments into their memories. It had been a long gap since this last happened and who was to know if it will ever happen again. One simply had to make the most of it.
It could have been a glimpse of the past as jokes and banter in Punjabi made a return in conversations with batting coach Bantoo Singh and head coach Sharandeep Singh. The nets were expectedly far more populated and livelier one day before the match.
But for all the noise, Kohli was in a world of his own. On Wednesday, he was the earliest to arrive as he spent an hour in the gym ahead of a warm-up session and a game of football.
Several other net bowlers joined in with a few additions from the U-23 team. The slim bat made a feature again as Kohli started to face throwdowns at around 10.30 am. Only when he started opening his shoulders did he switch to a thicker MRF bat. The pulls and the shots towards cover became more frequent too.
When he moved to the next net against the seamers at around 10:42 am, he seemed to be focusing more on playing on the front foot as compared to the first day when he concentrated on the backfoot. He was beaten a few times when facing seamers Money Grewal, Navdeep Saini, Rahul Gehlot but came into his own in the 15-minute window against the spinners when he moved to the next net at around 11:03 am. He faced spin till 11:17 am when he finally packed up.
One didn’t think it would happen ever again but on Thursday, he will walk out for Delhi and the city can’t help but simply revel at having their homeboy back again.
