Virat Kohli is returning to Ranji Trophy after more than 12 years, and what surprises former India batter Mohammad Kaif is the fact that Kohli still has the same weakness he showed during his last Ranji appearance, which had Kaif in the opposition.
In November 2012, Delhi took on hosts Uttar Pradesh in Ghaziabad; and the game saw Kohli getting out for 14 and 43 in the two innings, dismissed caught behind the wicket by Bhuvneshwar Kumar on both the occasions.
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It was the similar mode of dismissal that chased Kohli throughout the tour of Australia, where he was caught while poking at balls well outside his off-stump and could score just 191 runs in 9 innings, despite beginning the tour with 100 not out in the first Test of the series in Perth.
As he gets ready to take a fresh guard in his Ranji Trophy comeback and hopes to iron out the flaws that have crept into his game towards the end of his glowing career, Kaif recalled the proceedings from the match 12 seasons ago.
“The game had all the big stars playing. For Uttar Pradesh, there was Suresh Raina, Kaif, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Praveen Kumar. Talking about Delhi, they had Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Virat Kohli, Ashish Nehra, Ishant Sharma,” said Kaif in a video he posted on social media.
He recalled that Kohli played and missed Bhuvneshwar a lot, until he nicked one and the low catch behind the stumps was taken by Kaif himself at first slip.
“I felt it was a testing time and I should stay alert as Kohli will nick one soon, and it happened when he went for a drive,” said Kaif.
Kaif expressed disbelief that it took Kohli more than 12 years to play another Ranji match.
“I could not believe that our match against Delhi in 2012 was Kohli’s last Ranji Trophy match. The weakness he had earlier is still there. The way Bhuvneshwar Kumar got him out twice, I cannot believe that the same weakness is still there. The way he was getting out in Australia, he got out in the same way in that Ranji match,” said Kaif.
Kaif lauded Kohli for his achievements since that day despite the weakness that has prevailed. The former India batter hoped that Kohli is able to figure out his mistakes and make amends for another prolific run in the home stretch of his career.
“Despite having weakness against outside-off-stump balls due to his tight bottom hand, the stature he has achieved is commendable. He has 50 centuries in ODI cricket,” Kaif added.
Kohli’s next big assignment in the India jersey will be the ICC Champions Trophy, beginning February 19; and runs under his belt will do him and the team a world of good heading into the tournament.
“Virat Kohli will get some practice (on his Ranji Trophy return); and if he scores runs and gets back to form, it will benefit India a lot. So we pray that he does well and spends some time at the crease. We hope he gets the kind of success he got in the 2023 ODI World Cup (scored 765 runs) in the 2025 Champions Trophy as well,” Kaif concluded.