Intense nets to Kadhi Chawal: Virat Kohli's eventful first day back at Delhi practice

India's veteran cricketer Virat Kohli will be back in the Ranji Trophy after a gap of more than 12 years. Kohli will appear for his domestic side Delhi as they get ready to play against Railways in a match starting on January 30.

The match will be played at Delhi's Arun Jaitley Stadium. The 36-year-old made his first appearance for the match practice on January 28 (Tuesday) and seemed to enjoy his time. Kohli remembered his old days in which he used to enjoy himself and score loads of runs.

Kohli arrived at the ground at 9 A.M. through his black Porsche in his training kit. Kohli was in the practice session for Delhi after a long gap and as a result, he was the main focus of everyone.

Kohli was at his home ground for about three hours and all the eyes were on him. Delhi's head coach Sarandeep Singh was around him most of the time as well as the team's batting coach Bantu Singh.

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What did Virat Kohli eat after practice?

A senior DDCA official claimed that Virat Kohli hasn't changed a bit from his earlier times when he wasn't a star. He revealed that they had arranged Kohli's favorite chhole-poori for him but he didn't want to eat it.

"Woh badlaa nahi hain. Usko chhole-poori pasand the aur humne mangaake rakha thaa. Usne bola chole puri nahi khawoonga (He loves chhole poori, we made arrangements for him but he said he didn't want it)," a senior DDCA official was quoted as saying by PTI.

However, the official further mentioned that Virat Kohli ate Kadhi-chawal with the other Delhi players after practice and remembered his old times. "Practice ke baad purane time ki tarah kadhi chawal khaya sabke saath (He had kadhi chawal with everyone)," the official revealed.

While Kohli met everyone, he was mostly comfortable with his former Under-19 coach Mahesh Bhati. Bhati is currently the administrative manager of Delhi's team and was present there at the ground on this historic occasion.

Virat Kohli's intense batting session

Virat Kohli was involved in a warm-up for around 35 minutes. He also warmed up with a 15-minute football session and also had some sprints across the boundary. In between, the legendary India batter enjoyed the moment with some laughs.

However, he was serious and focused when it came to the net session. He walked up to the nets where Delhi's skipper Ayush Badoni was already batting and told him to keep switching to allow both of them to practice.

'Ayush tu batting karle, phir dono switch karke karenge (Ayush you keep batting. After sometime, we will take turns to bat)," Kohli said to Badoni.

Comfortable against all bowlers

After spending almost an hour in the nets, Kohli went to the team's spinners where he faced the left-arm spinners Harsh Tyagi and Sumit Mathur. However, he didn't face much trouble facing them as they lacked the bite in their bowling.

Similarly, Virat Kohli hardly had a tough time facing the team's fast bowlers Navdeep Saini, Money Grewal, Rahul Gehlot, and Siddhant Sharma. He looked to play beside most of the balls keeping the Champions Trophy in mind.

"Delhiwaale ho, dum dikhao" - Virat Kohli to his teammates

Kohli was at his best when he came to deliver the message to his Delhi teammates. He asked the players to show some positivity and show some strength

"Delhiwaale ho, dum dikhao. Shuruat accha kiya phir thande padh gaye. Positive khelo jaise Delhiwaale khelte hain (You're from Delhi, show some strength. You started well but then went cold. Play positively just like the Delhi players do," Kohli said while referring to Delhi's up-and-down season.

Bhati claimed that Kohli was happy with the surfaces in the nets and labeled them as "top quality". He also vowed to return to bat the next day as well.

Recently, Kohli has been training with the former India batting coach Sanjay Bangar and was seen working on his backfoot game. After the Rani Trophy game, he will appear for India in the ODI series against England and the Champions Trophy.