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Virat Kohli is expected to train with the Delhi Ranji Trophy squad from Tuesday ahead of his first domestic red-ball match since 2012, as the Delhi & Districts Cricket Association (DDCA) prepares to ensure that all arrangements are in place for the maestro's highly-anticipated homecoming. Kohli was on Monday officially named in the Delhi squad, led by Ayush Badoni, for their final group match against Railways at the Arun Jaitley Stadium starting January 30. This will be Kohli's first Ranji match since he played against Uttar Pradesh at Ghaziabad's Mohan Nagar in 2012.
At that time, Kohli was a rising star in Indian cricket, and now, he is a legend in his own right, a former India captain, and the owner of 80 international centuries.
"Obviously, it is a great experience for our junior players as they will get to share the dressing room with Virat. If you look at our team, only Navdeep Saini has played alongside Virat in the IPL and for India. In fact, none of the players in the team have played with Virat in the Ranji Trophy. They can learn a lot by watching him," DDCA secretary Ashok Sharma told PTI.
Asked about the arrangements for the game, Sharma said, "We know Virat's presence raises the profile of the match. Normally, we have 10 to 12 private security personnel for a regular Ranji match, but we will definitely increase security so that Virat can train without any disturbance.
"We have also informed the Delhi Police about the match." While Ranji matches are free for spectators but they usually open one stand but for this match, DDCA will open three stands at the Ambedkar Stadium End.
"Gate Nos. 7, 15, and 16 will be open to the public. We will arrange for drinking water, and the toilets will be clean and hygienic. Come and enjoy the match. Of course, there will be security checks before allowing the public to enter," Sharma said.
No live telecast or streaming as of now
While Kohli's presence makes the Delhi versus Railways match the most high-profile domestic game in recent past, there is some bad news for fans as there is currently no provision for broadcasting the marquee clash.
"We don't know if BCCI will make any last minute arrangements since Kohli is playing but we haven't been intimated anything about broadcast of this game. Normally all big centres get one live game allotted (TV or streaming). We had a game against Tamil Nadu which was aired live. The roster for broadcast is set months in advance," a DDCA official in the know of things told PTI on conditions of anonymity.
The decision to live telecast Mumbai vs J&K game was taken much earlier and it was coincidental that India captain Rohit Sharma and rising star Yashasvi Jaiswal were part of the game.
"In the next round, the main match that will be televised as well as live-streamed is Karnataka versus Haryana at Chinnaswamy. Two more matches will be streamed. One of those is Bengal vs Punjab at Eden Gardens. There is a streaming of a third match but as of now it doesn't involve Delhi," a BCCI official informed.
Even if the BCCI decides to make arrangements for live streaming in the next 48 hours, it will be a logistical challenge, requiring a multi-camera setup and the delegation of a crew.
Squad: Ayush Badoni (captain), Virat Kohli, Pranav Rajvanshi (wk), Sanat Sangwan, Arpit Rana, Mayank Gusain, Shivam Sharma, Sumit Mathur, Vansh Bedi (wk), Money Grewal, Harsh Tyagi, Siddhant Sharma, Navdeep Saini, Yash Dhull, Gagan Vats, Jonty Sidhu, Himmat Singh, Vaibhav Kandpal, Rahul Gehlot, Jitesh Singh.