Sports
Ranji Trophy: When Virat Kohli’s aura brought a party-like atmosphere at Arun Jaitley Stadium
New Delhi, Jan 30: The word ‘Aura’, with its Latin and Ancient Greek origins saying it as another word for wins, is described in the Oxford English Dictionary as a distinctive ambience or quality generated by a person or thing.
If one were to describe what aura meant to cricket fans in New Delhi on January 30, 2025, look no further than them thronging the Arun Jaitley Stadium in heaps to see the talismanic Virat Kohli in action on day one of the Ranji Trophy Group D game between Delhi and Railways.
Since the time Kohli’s confirmation for playing the match arrived, the atmosphere became an electric one, with narrow roads in and around the stadium buzzing with enthusiasm. It slowly brought in the realisation that the Delhi-Railways game was not just going to be another Ranji Trophy game, where empty stands have been permanent features.
Fans were to get free entry, and had to show Aadhaar card to get into the stadium. By Wednesday evening, the broadcast crew had fixed the cameras in stadium’s periphery, after the rights holders raced quickly to get the game on roster.
For two days of the practice sessions, every move of Kohli was captured and talked with awe by media, fans, age-group cricketers and DDCA officials. The anticipation was for 10,000 fans to arrive for day one’s play, but Thursday morning threw a completely different curveball.
From as early as 3am, fans – irrespective of age, gender, height and layers of winter clothing – lined up outside the stadium to get an entry into the venue. By 8am, it snowballed into a packed crowd outside gates 16 and 17, with chants of Kohli and Royal Challengers Bengaluru ruling the roost in their quest to catch a live glimpse of their hero playing in Ranji Trophy after more than 12 years.
Some fans were also young women who had come all alone to catch Kohli’s glimpse and were overwhelmed by men jumping over barriers to join the long crowd outside the two gates, fearing a stampede could happen. There were more fans waiting to come in, but were away from entering the stadium due to the nearby road being closed due to VIP movement (as PM Narendra Modi went to Rajghat to pay tributes to Mahatma Gandhi).
By 9:20am, the Gautam Gambhir Stand was fully packed and gate 18 was thrown open for fans to fill the lower tier of the Bishan Singh Bedi Stand, with the crowd numbers at upwards of 15,000. More security was called in to manage the crowd, and in a jiffy, 100 personnel had reached the venue, even as #ViratKohli dominated the trending charts on social media platforms.
With the anticipation of seeing Kohli’s batting, excited fans in store were in for an anti-climax move, as Delhi captain Ayush Badoni won the toss and elected to bowl first on a green pitch. With Kohli stationed at his usual second slip, before moving on to field at cover, short mid-wicket and mid-on, the chants of ‘Kohli, Kohli’ dominated the stadium’s mood in the batting stalwart’s homecoming.
When Navdeep Saini and Siddhant Sharma scythed through the Railways top order, the countdown was on over fans’ tongues over the wickets Delhi needed more to start their batting innings and see Kohli in action with his usual MRF willow.
Around the 12th over, a fan couldn’t control his excitement and jumped out of the Gautam Gambhir stand to touch Kohli’s feet. When he succeeded in briefly doing that, the crowd was in absolute raptures, even when he was taken away by the security people.
Kohli, standing at the second slip, gestured to the security people to not hit the fan and stretched out his right hand. After that, posters began to surface from the crowds, ranging from fans asking Kohli to not go after deliveries going in fifth and sixth stump lines to asking if he ate his favourite chole bhature at his go-to outlet in younger days.
In the Old Clubhouse stand, the talk amongst DDCA officials, and employee at various departments was about how they had never seen a huge crowd before for a Ranji Trophy game in their time of working at the stadium, with work swiftly going on arranging food for fans for all for days of the game.
Expressions of awe on the fans’ craze for Kohli were also visible on faces of national selector Ajay Ratra and Raj Kumar Sharma, Kohli’s childhood coach. The DDCA people also had some kind words on how Kohli was the humble stalwart, who showed no airs and carried his kit bag all the time, while adding the positivity and much-needed intensity into Delhi’s practice sessions.
The chants of ‘Kohli, Kohli’ grew louder and mobile cameras came out from a section of fans near the fence of the Bishan Singh Bedi Stand whenever he went in and came out of the dressing room housed at Virat Kohli Pavilion.
An old timer at the venue recalled the craze of fans for seeing Kohli live reminded him of the time spectators came in large numbers at the stadium for the Duleep Trophy final clash in March 1979, where Kapil Dev and Sunil Gavaskar were in action for North and West Zones, respectively.
In that game, as the old timer said, Dev moved the ball both ways to pick 7-65 while Gavaskar batted like a champion to be 130 not out, as North Zone eventually prevailed over West Zone to win the competition. Now, 46 years later, Delhi was witness to fans thronging the stadium in large numbers, highlighting the pull Kohli has in Indian cricket.
By 2 pm, as Upendra Yadav led Railways fightback with a superb 95 and Karn Sharma aiding him with a gritty fifty, the enthusiasm in stand dipped a bit, as chances of seeing Kohli bat were rapidly diminishing.
When Delhi’s bouncer ploy got them a breakthrough in the form of Karn’s wicket, Kohli was the first person to appreciate young Yash Dhull for completing a superb relay catch, after previously egging on the crowd to cheer for the home team, who in turn shouted his name loudly.
As the day ended, the fans didn’t get to see Kohli bat but will be back in large numbers on day two to see him weave some magic with his willow. For now, they will be talking about how they were pulled into seeing a Ranji Trophy game, all thanks to the aura Kohli carries and brought a party-like atmosphere to the Arun Jaitley Stadium on a not-so-usual weekday.
National News
SLC instructs players to continue with Pak tour amid safety concerns; PCB announces revised schedule for ODI series
New Delhi, Nov 13: Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) has instructed it’s players to “continue with the tour as scheduled” after some squad members wished to leave Pakistan mid-tour and return home, citing concerns over their security following the suicide bombing in Islamabad.
SLC also threatened players of the men’s national team and support staff with “a formal review” if any player returns home despite its directive.
The two teams are currently involved in a three-match ODI series in Pakistan’s Rawalpindi and recently concluded the first game on Tuesday, where the hosts won by six runs. After the bilateral series, Sri Lanka are also scheduled to take part in a Tri-series, involving hosts Pakistan and Zimbabwe, starting on November 19.
“Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) was informed by the team management this morning that several members of the national team currently touring Pakistan have requested to return home, citing safety concerns.
“Following this development, SLC immediately engaged with the players and assured them that all such concerns are being duly addressed in close coordination with the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) and the relevant authorities to ensure the safety and well-being of every member of the touring party.
“In this context, SLC has instructed all players, support staff, and team management to continue with the tour as scheduled. However, should any player or member of the touring party decide to return to Sri Lanka despite the directive issued by SLC to continue with the tour, Sri Lanka Cricket will immediately send replacements to ensure that the tour continues without interruption.
“If any player, players, or member of the support staff return despite SLC’s directives, a formal review will be conducted to assess their actions, and an appropriate decision will be made upon the conclusion of the review,” the board stated in a release.
Following the developments, Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) on Thursday announced changes to the schedule of the ongoing ODI series between Pakistan and Sri Lanka, as well as the upcoming T20I Tri-Nation Tournament involving Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe.
Under the revised schedule, the remaining ODI matches between Pakistan and Sri Lanka will now be played on November 14 and 16 at Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium (RCS), while the T20I Tri-Nation Tournament shall now completely be played in Rawalpindi, commencing November 18, with the final scheduled for November 29.
New Delhi, Nov 12: India stalwarts Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma have reportedly been instructed to participate in domestic matches for their respective state teams to stay in the reckoning for ODI team.
The duo are active only in ODIs, having retired from the shortest and longest formats, that is T20Is and Tests. With limited one-day internationals scheduled for now and the focus on the 20-over format as the T20 World Cup approaches quickly, Kohli and Rohit will need game time to stay in contention for a place in the squad for the ODI World Cup scheduled in 2027.
The duo will most likely participate in the three-match ODI series against South Africa, scheduled to start from December 3, and will probably only be seen again in India colours in January 2026, when the Men in Blue host New Zealand for ODIs from the 11th of the month. Kohli and Rohit will have a month-long break in between, which is when the Vijay Hazare Trophy is set to be played.
A report by the Indian Express suggests that Rohit has informed the Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA) about his availability for the Vijay Hazare Trophy, but there haven’t been any updates on this from Kohli’s end.
“The board and team management have conveyed to both of them that they will have to play domestic cricket if they want to play for India. As they both have retired from two formats, they have to play domestic cricket to be match-fit,” BCCI sources were quoted in the report.
Kohli and Rohit last played the ODI series in Australia last month, where their unbeaten partnership in the third and final game helped the Men in Blue secure a nine-wicket win. Rohit shone in two of the three games, including scoring a century in the third, while Kohli recovered from two ducks to score an unbeaten 87 in the final ODI.
Rohit has reportedly informed the Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA) that he could be available for the upcoming Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 Trophy, set to begin on November 26.
The India captain has been sharpening his skills at Mumbai’s Sharad Pawar Indoor Academy in recent days. Meanwhile, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is also hopeful that Kohli will make a return to domestic cricket.
Last season, Rohit and Kohli each played one Ranji Trophy match. In January, Kohli returned to play for Delhi after a 12-year absence, while Rohit appeared for Mumbai after a 10-year hiatus.
National News
Playing against India in India is never easy: Ganguly feels upcoming series will be tough for SA
New Delhi, Nov 11: Former India captain Sourav Ganguly believes that the upcoming two-Test series will pose a tough challenge for reigning World Test Champions South Africa, noting that “playing against India in India is never easy, as they are a very strong side in subcontinent conditions.”
The two teams are set to face each other in a multi-format series, which will see Gill and Co. host the Proteas for two Tests and three ODIs. Then, Surykumar Yadav-led side will engage in five T20Is against the Proteas men.
The first Test will be played in Kolkata’s iconic Eden Gardens, home of Ganguly, who is also the President of the Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB).
“The first Test starts in Kolkata in a few days, and it’s going to be a tough tour for South Africa. Playing against India in India is never easy. India is a very strong side in the subcontinent, and they are a strong team even overseas these days. I’m really looking forward to the Test at Eden Gardens. South Africa is a good side, so it should be a high-quality contest,” Ganguly said on JioStar.
India pacer Mohammed Siraj also shared his thoughts ahead of the Test series, saying, “This series is crucial for the new WTC cycle, especially since South Africa is the defending champion. While they drew 1-1 with Pakistan, we’re confident based on our own good form, having created a positive environment and performed well in England, and having won against the West Indies.”
“Personally, I’m bowling with good rhythm and looking to make the most of it. Facing strong teams helps identify areas to improve, and I’m really excited for this challenge,” he added.
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