Virat Kohli is all set to return to the Ranji Trophy after an absence of 12 years. The cricketer confirmed his availability for Delhi’s final group-stage match against Railways beginning from January 30 to February 2. ESPNcricinfo reported this news after confirming it with Delhi’s head coach, Sarandeep Singh.
“Virat has conveyed to DDCA president (Rohan Jaitley) and team management that he is available for the game against Railways,” Delhi head coach Sarandeep Singh also told PTI.
Kohli has been ruled out the final leg of his penultimate group-stage fixture for Delhi against Saurashtra, which begins on January 23 in Rajkot. He had not been available for this game so far, as Rishabh Pant and Ravindra Jadeja had confirmed their availability. Kohli was out of the team due to continued recovery from neck pain, which had prompted him to take an injection on January 8, just after the Border-Gavaskar Trophy ended in Sydney.
Several other Indian internationals who are likely to feature in the January 23 matches include Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill, and Yashasvi Jaiswal. It is not known if Kohli has formally communicated his participation in the Ranji Trophy match starting January 30 to the Indian team management, which includes selector Ajit Agarkar. If that game goes on till February 2, Kohli would have only three days before the ODI series against England starts on February 6. Kohli is part of both the ODI squad for the England series and the squad for the Champions Trophy, which starts on February 20.
