The return of prodigal son
new delhi: Virat Kohli’s return to the erstwhile Ferozeshah Kotla, rechristened as the Arun Jaitley Stadium, for an inconsequential Ranji Trophy match against Railways starting on Wednesday, has become a big event. The venue was a beehive of activity on Tuesday, with the full glare of media on Kohli. ‘Cheeku’ as Kohli is known to old pals, grew up in Paschim Vihar, West Delhi and played junior cricket and then graduated to the Ranji Trophy.
For someone with so many records against his name in every format of international cricket, Kohli returning to the Ranji Trophy is special. Sample this, he has scored 30 centuries in Test cricket, 50 tons in One-day Internationals and one century in T20 Internationals. One is not even talking of his performance for RCB in the Indian Premier League, since that is club cricket. In stark comparison, Kohli has scored 1574 runs in 23 Ranji matches. For those who blame Kohli for having no time for Ranji cricket, it is wrong. As Rohit Sharma said very recently, the calendar is so packed that there hardly is any time for international players to show up in domestic cricket. Yet, if there is something which had to be shown as intent, Rohit also played for Mumbai last week against Jammu and Kashmir.
Kohli’s return is a big boost for the DDCA and Delhi cricket. Fans have seen him play international cricket and also in the IPL in the Capital. Yet, playing for the state which launched his career, after a gap of more than 12 years is emotional. He did arrive at the gates of the stadium in a swanky car. Once he got down to ‘nets’ he was the same humble man. He was part of the side and also had ‘kadi chawal’ for lunch. A fitness freak to the core, Kohli did not eat the greasy ‘chhole or kulche with chana’ which is also consumed by some Ranji cricketers.
The importance of Kohli being present at the Arun Jaitley Stadium can be gauged from one fact, the match will be shown on Jio Cinema. That is the magic of Kohli, how he still grabs eyeballs. Around 10,000 spectators could turn up on Wednesday to watch Kohli in flesh and blood.
