New Delhi, Jan 29: The Delhi versus Railways Ranji Trophy league game wasn’t included in the initial broadcast schedule for TV and live streaming until Virat Kohli’s involvement was confirmed.
News of Kohli’s participation in Thursday’s match at the Arun Jaitley Stadium has spurred a flurry of activity at the venue. By Wednesday evening, the camera crews will have completed their broadcast setup within the stadium.
Furthermore, the Delhi and District Cricket Association (DDCA) is facilitating access to free drinking water for spectators and has made available the north and old clubhouse stands for the next four days. The opening of gates 16 and potentially number six for spectators well demonstrates the impact of Kohli’s return to domestic red-ball cricket.
Kohli, who was the center of attention at Delhi’s practice session on Tuesday, again captivated everyone on Wednesday. Arriving at the stadium at 8:00 AM on the eve of the match, Kohli was the first Delhi player to start his almost hour-long gym session.
A short friendly football match of about 15 minutes preceded his batting practice at the Hill B nets, where he was joined by Delhi head coach Sarandeep Singh. Just like on Tuesday, Kohli first practiced with the bat which had no sticker and was thinner as compared to his usual bats.
Under light sunshine, Kohli began his batting practice for the day by facing throwdowns delivered from 16 yards on the practice pitch. This session was a mix of Kohli going through the motions of his defensive and aggressive shots, though most of them were front foot strokes. He defended right under his eyelids, while middled some pulls played along the ground.
There were some drives and cuts pointed towards square of the off-side region, shots which aren’t the usual features in his strokeplay. With his normal MRF sticker bat in hand, Kohli then moved towards the nets where fast-bowlers like Navdeep Saini, Money Grewal, Sidhant Sharma and Rahul Gahlot were operating.
There, he played front foot shots often, as there were more fuller balls on offer. Against Saini, Kohli played some shots, where he looked steady and brought out his trademark flick while leaving a few deliveries in the channel outside off-stump. At times, he was beaten by Grewal’s pace and was further beaten by an on pads delivery by left-arm pacer Sidhant.
At 11:00 AM, it was Kohli’s time to switch to the nets where left-arm spinners Harsh Tyagi and Sumit Mathur along with offspinner Sumit Sharma and couple of net bowlers were going through their shift. Kohli’s initial focus there was to negotiate the deliveries on backfoot, before reverting back to front foot.
The sparkling time of his nets session came when he used his feet well against Shivam and other net bowlers, especially with the lofted shots making great connection. In between, Kohli was beaten by a tall left-arm spinner named Prakhar, who hails from Rajasthan and was a net bowler.
At 11:15 AM, Kohli was done with his batting practice for the day, where the focus was more on front foot and using his feet against spinners, as compared to attention on backfoot play on Tuesday.
Kohli posed for some pictures - first with former Indian cricketer Gursharan Singh, and then with some DDCA officials. Amidst some laughter on good old tales, Kohli also signed on a picture and t-shirt shirts with a marker before leaving with his kitbag.
Elsewhere, the enthusiasm among Delhi’s young women cricketers over Kohli’s Tuesday practice was palpable. They kept recounting his motivational words to eight-year-old Kabir Khan (son of Kohli’s former teammate Shawej Khan) about going beyond the benchmark in the quest to play for India.
Soon, the morning chill made way for the afternoon sun to come out in full glory. The massive interest in Delhi’s final league match against Railways, to be now shown live on TV and digitally, undeniably proves Kohli’s star power, as his return to the Ranji Trophy creates a tangible buzz and excitement in fans, regardless of the game’s result.
