Watch: Virat Kohli kicks aside Gautam Gambhir, seeks Ex-India coach's help to regain form

India's veteran cricketer Virat Kohli has started preparing for his Ranji Trophy return with an aim to regain his red-ball form. On January 25 (Saturday), Kohli was seen in the nets training with the former India batting coach Sanjay Bangar in Mumbai.

In a video that has gone viral on social media, Kohli was seen taking some throwdowns to the balls outside off stump, which has been his major weakness over the course of his glittering career. Kohli was also seen having a chat with Sanjay Bangar in the video.

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Watch: Virat Kohli trains hard with Sanjay Bangar

Kohli working with Sanjay Banger in Mumbai. 🙇‍♂️ pic.twitter.com/T4zEhC2D2f

— Mufaddal Vohra (@mufaddal_vohra) January 25, 2025

Kohli seemed quite keen to get over his weakness of poking outside off stump. He has been getting out in a similar fashion recently which led to his slump in form. During the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in Australia, all of his dismissals were of a similar pattern with him being caught behind the wickets by the wicketkeeper or the slip fielder.

Virat Kohli's recent Test form

Virat Kohli endured a rough patch in the Test series against Australia recently where he scored 190 runs in five Tests at an average of just 23.75. He started the series with a hundred in Perth but was constantly troubled by the world-class Australian bowlers in the next Tests.

The Australian quicks made full use of his weakness and targeted the fourth and fifth stump on a consistent basis. Kohli could not stop his temptation to poke at those deliveries and kept getting dismissed.

The 36-year-old came into the Border-Gavaskar Trophy on the back of some poor form. In the five home Tests against Bangladesh and New Zealand, Virat Kohli failed to cross the fifty-run mark with his best being the unbeaten 47. He scored 192 runs in these five Tests at an average of just 21.33.

Virat Kohli back to play the Ranji Trophy

Virat Kohli will be back in the Ranji Trophy after more than 12 years when he will play for his state team Delhi against Railways. The match is scheduled to be played at Delhi's Arun Jaitley Stadium from January 30. His last Ranji game was way back in 2012 against Uttar Pradesh when he wasn't even a regular part of India's Test set-up.

Kohli was earlier expected to feature in Delhi's game against Saurashtra but pulled out due to a neck sprain. After playing the Ranji Trophy match against Railways, he will be back in the 50-over mold and feature in India's ODI series against England.

He will be key to India's chances in the upcoming Champions Trophy which will be played after the three-match ODI series against England. He has a fantastic record in the 50-over format and also enjoys it the most. India will open its Champions Trophy 2025 campaign against Bangladesh on February 20 in Dubai.