Virat Kohli is all but confirmed to make his Ranji Trophy comeback. The former Indian captain last played in the red-ball tournament back in the 2012/13 season, and after the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) mandate over domestic participation, Kohli is primed to return.
Virat Kohli getting ready for Ranji Trophy
Due to a neck injury, Kohli missed Delhi’s match against Saurashtra. However, it seems that his much-awaited game will happen on January 30 when Delhi takes on Railways at the Arun Jaitley Stadium. To prepare for his domestic comeback, Kohli has been working with former Indian batting coach Sanjay Bangar.
A video of the duo working together had emerged yesterday, and according to PTI, Bangar’s focus was on improving Kohli’s backfoot play. All of Kohli’s eight dismissals in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy were to balls pitched outside off that he nicked behind to the slips or the wicketkeeper.
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Kohli looking to get red-ball mojo back
The pattern has always been there; it’s just that now Kohli hasn’t been able to score runs while getting dismissed in the same manner. In Mumbai, both worked on his backfoot play, as Kohli has always been a front-foot batter who loves to drive the ball. This has come to bite him back even more of late, and many have questioned his range against balls outside off.
Bangar had worked with Kohli from 2014 to 2019, a period in which only Steve Smith came close to the batter. His Test average was 55.10 towards the end of Bangar’s coaching tenure; now it stands at just 46.85. Kohli trusts the former batting coach and therefore decided to work under his guidance before his Ranji Trophy return.
“When Kohli’s feedback was sought post-2019 World Cup, he had given a glowing certificate to Bangar, stating that as a batter, he had benefitted a lot from his technical inputs during all those years,” a senior BCCI official, who was then associated with the appointment of support staff, told PTI.
Kohli’s form in Test cricket hasn’t been great. It’s not like he’s had a poor 12 months, but since 2020 his average has been just 30.70. In the last 5 years, only three centuries have come from his bat in 69 innings. In comparison, Kohli struck nearly 13 centuries in the same number of innings before.
Virat Kohli’s Test record from 2020-2025
| Innings | Runs | Average | 100s | 50s | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011-2019 | 141 | 7183 | 54.8 | 27 | 22 |
| 2020-Now | 69 | 2028 | 30.7 | 3 | 9 |
