DEL Vs RLY: Virat Kohli's craze has well and truly been proven by the people of Delhi

huge amount of fans have reported for Day 1 of the Ranji Trophy 2024-25 fixture between Delhi and Railways at the Arun Jaitley Stadium

Huge crowd gathers at Arun Jaitley Stadium for Day 1 of Ranji Trophy fixture between Delhi and Railways

Virat Kohli is yet to come out to bat, with Delhi losing the wicket of Arpit Rana at the time of writing

DELHI, INDIA: DECEMBER 21, 2024: A huge crowd of fans have gathered at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi on Day 1 of the Ranji Trophy 2024-25 fixture between Delhi and Railways.

The historic occasion was marred by a stampede, but the crowd still managed to enter he stadium premises, and fans started chanting 'Kohli, Kohli' once the match commenced.

Delhi skipper Ayush Badoni won the coin toss and elected to bowl first, and his decision to bring in the visitors to bat paid dividends, as Delhi bowlers excelled by restricting Railways to merely 241 runs in 67.4 overs.

The crowd erupted in joy as Delhi bowlers picked up wickets at regular intervals, putting pressure on the Railways batsmen.

Sumit Mathur and Navdeep Saini were the pick of the bowlers, as the duo scalped three wickets-each, and were complemented by the duo of Money Grewal and Siddhant Sharma, who managed to scalp two-a-piece.

For Railways, only Upendra Yadav managed to shine, as the wicket-keeper batsman fell 5 short off a memorable ton, as his innings propelled the visitors beyond the 200-run mark.

Delhi has come out to bat in the final session of Day 1, but the main question that pops-up in the mind of every fan is that whether Virat Kohli will come out to bat or not?

At the time of writing, the home side have lost the wicket of Arpit Rana off Kunal Yadav's delivery, as the Delhi opener was caught-behind by Upendra Yadav.

Virat Kohli At 4? Or Night-Watchman

As only 10 overs are remaining in the conclusion of play on Day 1, chances are very bleak of seeing Virat Kohli come out to bat if Delhi loses yet another wicket.

However, if the ongoing pair of Sanat Sangwan and former skipper Yash Dhull manage to survive today, it is for sure that the overnight pair on Day 2 will be followed by the entry of Indian legend Virat Kohli, who has stamped his authority at number 4 slot over the years.