Ayush Badoni conjured up an entertaining knock to rescue host Delhi against Railways at the Arun Jaitley Stadium on Friday.
| Photo Credit: SHIV KUMAR PUSHPAKAR
An estimate of the exact time that Virat Kohli spent at the batting crease on Friday was between 20 and 24 minutes. Whatever it was, it was nowhere near enough for Kohli to rediscover his form heading into the ICC Champions Trophy beginning on February 19.
Even in this short span, he could have easily been out twice. When he was eventually cleaned up after making six runs off 15 balls, the sizeable crowd at the Arun Jaitley Stadium was stunned into silence. A few metres away from Kohli was Railways medium-pacer Himanshu Sangwan, pumping his fists and screaming in joy at bagging the prized scalp as the star batter stared at the turf before walking off with his head down.
Entertaining
As soon as Kohli got into the dressing room, the fans that had gathered with fervour on Friday morning began to head for the exit gates. But Ayush Badoni entertained the few who stayed put with a dazzling 99 off 78 balls to help Delhi end day two of a Group D Ranji Trophy duel against Railways with a 93-run first-innings lead. At stumps, the home team was 334 for seven, with Sumit Mathur unbeaten on 78.
The moment of despair for Kohli arrived at 10:54 a.m. Off the previous ball in the 28th over, the No. 4 took a couple of steps down the crease and used his strong bottom hand to clatter a full ball down the ground for four, his right foot up in the air as he played the expansive shot. He followed it up by walking towards Sangwan again and playing an airy drive, but was done in by a ball that jagged back through the yawning gap between bat and pad and sent the off-pole for a stroll.
When the day’s play drew to a close, he was felicitated by the Delhi & District Cricket Association (DDCA).
But for Kohli to make this a truly happy homecoming to the Arun Jaitley Stadium in the Ranji Trophy, a much bigger score in the second innings is imperative.
The scores:
Railways — 1st innings: 241.
Delhi — 1st innings: Arpit Rana c Upendra b Kunal 10, Sanat Sangwan b Himanshu 30, Yash Dhull lbw b Rahul 32, Virat Kohli b Himanshu 6, Ayush Badoni c Kunal b Karn 99, Sumit Mathur (batting) 78, Pranav Rajvanshi b Chaudhari 39, Shivam Sharma c Upendra b Kunal 14, Siddhant Sharma (batting) 15; Extras (nb-5, lb-6): 11; Total (for seven wkts. in 96 overs): 334.
Fall of wickets: 1-11, 2-78, 3-86, 4-97, 5-230, 6-293, 7-310.
Railways bowling: Himanshu 20-6-46-2, Kunal 24-4-82-2, Rahul 17-1-69-1, Ayan Chaudhari 15-2-64-1, Karn 14-2-53-1, Saif 6-1-14-0.
Published – January 31, 2025 07:26 pm IST
