As the Indian Virat Kohli star made his much-awaited return to the Ranji Trophy, a massive crowd and chants of "RCB, RCB" echoed throughout the ground to welcome the Indian batter at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in New Delhi. The 36-year-old Kohli made his first appearance in the first-class tournament in twelve years with Delhi facing Railways on January 30 (Thursday).
In anticipation of the first day's action, fans crowded the stadium early in the morning to catch a glimpse of their favourite cricket player. As they appeared eager to see Kohli on the field, some of the supporters could also be heard doing the 'RCB-RCB' chants. After winning the U19 World Cup in Malaysia, Kohli joined RCB in 2008 and has been a member of the same IPL team ever since.
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Stampede at Arun Jaitley Stadium
The crowd was pushing and pulling each other which resulted in some of them getting injured. Even a police bike was damaged during the ruckus. Around three people got injured and were treated by the DDCA security and police near the gate. One of them even needed a bandage on the leg. To make the situation worse even a security guard got himself injured during it.
Delhi thrilled with Virat's return after 12 years
Kohli made his last outing in the Ranji Trophy in a match between Delhi and Uttar Pradesh at Ghaziabad back in 2012. By that point, Kohli had become India's premier batter in all three formats, although he did not have any standout performances throughout the game. Delhi lost by six wickets despite the right-handed batter scoring 14 and 43 runs in two innings. After an extended absence, he is now making his comeback to India's top domestic league, and supporters are excited to watch him play for Delhi once more.
This will be his only game for Delhi for now as he will shift his focus to the ODI series against England after this and will be eager to get some runs under his name ahead of the much-awaited edition of the Champion Trophy 2025.