Virat Kohli disappoints with bat on his long-awaited Ranji return but Delhi beat Railways by an innings and 19 runs

Delhi triumphed over Railways by an innings and 19 runs in the Elite Group D match of the ongoing Ranji Trophy 2024-25 season at the Arun Jaitley Stadium on Saturday.

This significant win brought Delhi's season to a close and was a historic occasion as Virat Kohli returned to the top domestic league after a 13-year absence. Delhi failed to advance to the quarterfinals despite this victory, which was only their second in the current tournament.

In their second innings, the hosts bowled out Railways for 114 runs in 30.5 overs, thus ending the match in less than three days. With five wickets for 33 runs in 11 overs, Shivam Sharma was the most impressive bowler. Captain Ayush Badoni, Money Grewal, Siddhant Sharma, and Navdeep Saini all contributed a wicket.

With a strong half-century from Karn Sharma and an outstanding 95 runs from Upendra Yadav, Railways, batting first, amassed 241 runs in their opening innings. Delhi responded by taking the lead with 374 runs, led by an incredible innings of 99 runs from Ayush Badoni. The team's tally was also significantly boosted by Sumit Mathur (86), Pranav Rajuvanshi (39), Yash Dhull (32), and Sanat Sangwan (30).

Even though there were great hopes, Virat Kohli's return to the Ranji Trophy after almost 13 years was disappointing since Himanshu Sangwan's outstanding ball dismissed him for just six runs. Regretfully, Kohli did not get another chance to bat throughout the game.

Virat entered the contest against Railways under heavy criticism for his current batting form after missing Delhi's previous match against Saurashtra because of a neck sprain. India's regular players have received a 10-point guideline from the BCCI, which highlights the need of prioritizing domestic matches according to their availability.

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