Kohli's Delhi nets: Slimmer bat, back-foot play, and a crowd of fans

Photo: PTI

A bigger crowd than usual had gathered outside the gate of the Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi. News had spread quickly that Virat Kohli would be joining the Delhi team to practice ahead of their upcoming Ranji Trophy match. Kohli will be playing in the match, which starts on Thursday. Some TV and YouTube reporters were also present, which is unusual for a Ranji match.

But this is Virat Kohli, and he’s coming back to domestic cricket after more than 12 years. His last Ranji Trophy game was in November 2012. Seeing the large crowd already gathered two days before the match, the sub-inspector on duty at the gate told his colleague they would need more security in the coming days.

At around 9:30 am, Kohli arrived in a black Porsche, the last player to enter the ground. He was surrounded by about ten people, including Delhi’s head coach Sarandeep Singh. Kohli joined his teammates for football drills, some laughter, and 100-meter sprints before heading to the batting nets.

Kohli got ready, put on his pads and helmet, and picked up an unusual-looking bat for his throwdown session. This bat had a much thinner blade than his usual one, likely because of the outside edges that led to him being dismissed eight times in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. For about 15 minutes, Kohli took throwdowns from the middle of the pitch. Five minutes were spent on front-foot shots, and the rest was focused on playing back-of-length balls from the back foot. His session was a mix of defensive and aggressive strokes. He was beaten a couple of times outside the off-stump but mostly played some solid pulls and short-arm jabs.

Next, Kohli moved to the other nets to face spin bowlers. He switched back to his normal bat and spent nearly 20 minutes facing left-arm spinners Harsh Tyagi and Sumit Mathur, as well as off-spinner Sumit Sharma. Kohli cut short balls from all of them. Tyagi beat Kohli’s outside edge a couple of times, and some deliveries bounced extra, meeting Kohli's bat on the sticker. Once, when Kohli tried to loft a full delivery from Tyagi, he managed only a leading edge. Sarandeep praised Tyagi for his bowling, but it was a session where Kohli remained steady and in control.

Then it was time for Kohli to face the fast bowlers for another 20 minutes. The bowlers included Navdeep Saini, along with a few other right-arm quicks and one left-arm fast bowler, Siddhant Sharma. When Siddhant beat Kohli’s bat twice, sending the ball away from him, Sarandeep stepped in and advised Kohli to switch to a middle-and-off-stump guard. Kohli followed the advice, and soon after, he beautifully played some deliveries, earning praise from the coach.

Saini, the most well-known fast bowler in the group, also beat Kohli once, but Kohli looked steady and calm. He left a lot of deliveries outside off-stump and played the shorter balls well by shifting his weight onto the back foot. He punched some of the balls through the off-side, while others were nudged or jabbed towards midwicket.
During the practice session, an eight-year-old fan named Kabir was watching Kohli closely. His father, Shawej Khan, a former Delhi cricketer who had played with Kohli in age-group cricket, told Kabir to pay attention to how Kohli kept his head still while playing his shots. After the session ended, Kohli greeted Shawej with a bear hug, signed his son’s bat, and shared some advice with him.

Kohli finished his day with some slip fielding and outfield catching, which he did for about half an hour. Afterward, he posed for pictures – first alone and then with officials from the Delhi & District Cricket Association – in front of the pavilion that is named after him.

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