Indian batting stalwart Virat Kohli left for Delhi to join his Ranji Trophy team after spending nearly a week fine-tuning his batting technique in Alibaug, Cricbuzz reported.
According to the report, Kohli worked closely with former India batting coach Sanjay Bangar at a Reliance cricket facility in the area.
Recently, a video of Kohli receiving throwdowns from Bangar went viral on social media. Initially thought to be filmed in Mumbai, it was later confirmed that the net session took place in Alibaug.
Kohli's decision to work with Bangar isn't surprising, considering that some of his career defining performances came during the latter’s tenure as batting coach from 2014 to 2019. The star batter amassed a staggering 11,767 runs in that phase, which included 41 centuries across formats.
However, Kohli’s recent batting form has put him under the scanner. He began the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024/25 with a second innings hundred (100*) at Perth but managed to amass only 90 runs in his other eight innings combined.
The age-old problem of fishing outside the off stump led to Kohli’s downfall throughout the tour, with Australian quicks Scott Boland, Josh Hazlewood and Mitchell Starc exploiting his weakness.
Virat Kohli finished the tour of Australia with an average of 23.75. As a result, his career Test average further slumped to 46.85.
In the wake of the BGT debacle, which India lost 1-3 for the first time in 10 years, the BCCI made it mandatory for the centrally contracted players to play domestic red-ball cricket when not on national duty.
While Kohli wasn't available for selection for Delhi's match against Saurashtra due to neck sprain, he will represent his state team in an Elite Group D clash against Railways at the Arun Jaitley Stadium, slated to start on January 30.
On Monday (January 27), Kohli was officially named in Delhi’s 20-member squad for the Ranji fixture against Railways. This match will mark his return to India's premier red-ball domestic tournament after over a decade, having last played in 2012.
Delhi Squad: Ayush Badoni (captain), Virat Kohli, Sanat Sangwan, Arpit Rana, Yash Dhull, Jonty Sidhu, Himmat Singh, Navdeep Saini, Money Grewal, Harsh Tyagi, Siddhant Sharma, Shivam Sharma, Pranav Rajvanshi, Vaibhav Kandpal, Mayank Gusain, Gagan Vats, Sumit Mathur, Rahul Gahlot, Jitesh Singh, Vansh Bedi.
