Virat Kohli made a return to Ranji Trophy cricket after 12 years as Delhi are taking on Railways at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi currently. Delhi have won the toss and opted to bowl first. They have rocked Railways early taking three wickets inside the first 10 overs.
There has been a huge build-up regarding Kohli's return to Ranji Trophy cricket. He along with a few senior players within the Indian squad was asked by the BCCI to go back and play domestic cricket after their woeful batting performance in the Test series against Australia.
Rohit Sharma, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill, Rishabh Pant, Shreyas Iyer all registered low scores in the matches that they have played. All eyes are now on Kohli's mega return and whether he can score big as compared to his Indian teammates. He denied taking up captaincy and instead asked Ayush Badoni to lead the side.
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The Weakness Is Still There: Mohammad Kaif On Virat Kohli
Meanwhile, Mohammad Kaif, in a video that he shared on his YouTube channel spoke about Virat Kohli's constant weakness that he saw since 2012. It was in 2012 that Kaif saw Kohli play his last domestic match and the former Indian cricketer suggested that Kohli has not worked on his weakness since then.
The weakness that he spoke about in the video is his outside off-stump weakness. He was out-edging the ball from the fourth or fifth stump. The star Indian batter was similarly dismissed seven times in the series against Australia.
"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" Kaif said.
Kaif lauded Kohli for becoming the start international batter he has become despite his weakness. He further assessed that Kohli's weakness is due to his tight bottom-hand grip.
"Despite having weakness against outside off-sump balls due to his tight bottom hand, the stature he achieved is commendable. He has 50 centuries in ODI cricket," Kaif added.
The former Indian cricketer concluded by saying that Virat Kohli's return to domestic cricket is a win-win situation for everyone. He also hoped that Kohli replicates his 2023 ODI World Cup success in the upcoming Champions Trophy.
"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" Kaif concluded.
More About Delhi vs Railways Ranji Match
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