On Monday, Virat Kohli was named in Delhi’s 20-member squad for its final Group D fixture of the Ranji Trophy 2024-25 season against Railways at the Arun Jaitley Stadium from Thursday. On January 20, the 36-year-old communicated his availability for the match to Delhi & District Cricket Association (DDCA) president Rohan Jaitley.

Rishabh Pant, who was out for one and 17 in Delhi’s 10-wicket defeat to Saurashtra in Rajkot, was not part of the squad against Railways.

Kohli will train with the Delhi team on Tuesday morning. He hasn’t played for the State team in the Ranji Trophy since facing Uttar Pradesh in Ghaziabad in November 2012.

The DDCA will have the North End and Old Club House End stands open for the public during the game. 

Right after the domestic game, Kohli will join India’s ODI team for the three-match series against England, beginning in Nagpur on February 6. While his focus will have to soon shift to the 50-over format with the Champions Trophy around the corner, the Ranji game is an opportunity for the star middle-order batter to spend some time in the middle and regain his fluency.

In the five-match Test series against Australia Down Under that India lost 1-3, Kohli was repeatedly running into problems in the channel outside off-stump. Despite a second-innings century in the opener in Perth, his tally in the series was a meagre 190 runs in nine innings at an average of 23.75.