Former India skipper Virat Kohli is all set to make his return to Ranji Trophy on Thursday. The 36-year-old will play against Railways to get ready for the massive assignments ahead. Kohli’s last Ranji match was against Uttar Pradesh in 2012 at Ghaziabad.
Mohammad Kaif was part of the team led by Suresh Raina that beat Delhi by six wickets. India’s former batter recollected how Kohli was caught behind the wicket during that game and how the issues persists even today. It is to be noted that Kohli’s eight dismissals during the Australian tour was caught behind the wicket.
Kaif while speaking on his YouTube channel said “I could not believe that our match against Delhi in 2012 was Kohli's last Ranji Trophy match. The weakness he had earlier is still there. The way Bhuvneshwar Kumar got him out twice, I cannot believe that the same weakness is still there. The way he was getting out in Australia, he got out in the same way in that Ranji match."
Kohli’s return to domestic cricket lauded by former India batter
Just last week Rohit Sharma played his first match in nearly a decade for Mumbai against Jammu and Kashmir. The move comes after BCCI made it compulsory for all the players to get back to domestic cricket. Kohli had pulled out of the previous game against Saurashtra due to fitness concerns before confirming his availability for the match against Railways.
44-year-old Mohammad Kaif lauded the move and said “Playing a Ranji Trophy match is a win-win for everyone. Virat Kohli will get some practice and if he scores runs and gets back to form, it will benefit India a lot. So, we pray that he does well and spends some time at the crease. We hope he gets the kind of success he got in the 2023 ODI World Cup in the 2025 Champions Trophy as well."
Virat Kohli had scored 14 runs in the first innings of his last Ranji match before scoring 43 in the second innings. On both occasions he was dismissed by future India teammate Bhuvneshwar Kumar. Current India coach Gautam Gambhir had opened the batting and had scored of 32 and 47. Skipper Sehwag scored 25 in the first innings while opening the batting and followed it up with 107 off 165 in the second essay, while batting at number six.