At exactly 9am when his jet black Porsche zoomed in through the Feroz Shah Kotla ground’s ‘Virender Sehwag Gate’, it was homecoming for Delhi’s very own Virat Kohli, who checked in for a training stint with his first-class team after more than 12 years. Save for pacer Navdeep Saini, all other 18 members of Delhi’s squad had only seen him on TV and grown up listening to the tales of how ‘Cheeku’, the cherubic talent, became the ‘King’ of Indian cricket. In the last 15 years, Delhi’s ‘Cheeku’ became a hazy memory as he turned into the most commercially viable brand in global cricket, the face that ICC sold in its Olympic bid presentation.
On Monday, he was at his home ground for around three hours and had everyone in his vicinity hypnotised. Whether the young impressionable players, or seasoned head coach Sarandeep Singh or batting coach Bantu Singh — all of them evidently wanted to be close to him.
Though courteous with all, the former India skipper seemed more comfortable with his former U-19 coach Mahesh Bhati, who is also the administrative manager of this team.
“Woh badlaa nahi hain. Usko chhole-poori pasand the aur humne mangaake rakhha 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 (Delhi and Districts Cricket Association) official told PTI.
What he did seek out after practice ahead of his first Ranji appearance in 12 years from January 30 was also an old favourite.
“Practice ke baad purane time ki tarah kadhi chawal khaya sabke saath (He had kadhi chawal with everyone),” revealed the official.
Everyone shadowed the icon like it was an event. Ranji Trophy matches are covered by a select bunch of domestic cricket faithfuls but on Monday, the numbers trebled.
Every move by the ‘King’ was followed. The two coaches — Sarandeep and Bantu — were by his side throughout and it would be difficult for photographers or videographers to edit them from the frame.
“I remember it was Ajit Chaudhary, the erstwhile manager of the Delhi Ranji team, who nicknamed him ‘Cheeku’ back in 2006-07,” DDCA secretary Ashok Sharma, fondly called ‘Mama’, recollected as if it was yesterday.
He has seen Kohli since he first came here for U-15 trials.
The Training
It was an occasion to remember for the Sanat Sangwans, Arpit Ranas and Siddhant Sharmas but for Kohli it was business as usual. It seemed he had left the star outside the ground and had turned up as their very own ‘Virat Bhaiya’.
The 35-minute warm-up before an inconsequential final game against the Railways was the longest that the senior team has spent to loosen up prior to net session.
There was a 15-minute game of football and he had some sprints down the wide right, also enjoying a laugh or two.
But once the net session started, the game face was on.
He quietly walked to the nets where skipper Ayush Badoni was batting.
Seeing Kohli walk towards the nets, Badoni was visibly conscious before Kohli told him: ‘Ayush tu batting karle, phir dono switch karke karenge (Ayush you keep batting. After sometime, we will take turns to bat.)” He spent close to an hour at the nets. At first, he took throw-downs where he kept playing the pull shot.
Once he had done enough knocking, Kohli entered the spinners’ nets where he faced left-arm spinners Harsh Tyagi and Sumit Mathur. A few balls did grip and stop but there wasn’t much bite in their bowling.
Ditto for pacers Navdeep Saini, Money Grewal, Rahul Gehlot and Siddhant Sharma.
Unlike India nets, Kohli hardly looked troubled although he did practice leaving a lot of deliveries. With the Champions Trophy round the corner, Kohli was seen trying to play a lot beside the line of deliveries.
Of late, he is concentrating on back-foot play and trying to increase his range of shots square of wicket. Obviously, before trying out in Champions Trophy, domestic cricket is good ground for a ‘Pilot Episode’.
“He was very happy with the surfaces. He said, practice wicket, centre strip everything is of top quality. I told him credit to our young curator Ankit Datta. He said, ‘Bhaiyya mazaa aa gaya batting karke. Kal phir aaoonga batting karne,’ Bhati said.
Advice for little Kabir and his teammates
A chubby fourth standard student Kabir had come with a sketch of ‘Uncle Virat’, who once played Delhi U-17 and U-19 cricket with his father Shavez back in the day.
“We had a bat contract with BDM and would go together to pick bats. We have been friends for long,” Shavez said.
When Kabir was asked about his conversation with Kohli, he said: “I asked him how can I play for India? He said, ‘You have to practice hard. And it shouldn’t be your Papa telling you to go to practice. You should tell Papa, I have to go to practice’.” And for his young Delhi colleagues, the advice was vintage Kohli.
“Delhiwaale ho, dum dikhao. Shuruat accha kiya phir thande padh gaye. Positive khelo jaise Delhiwaale khelte hain,” he said referring to Delhi’s inconsistent season.
In Form or out-of-form, ‘King’ will remain a ‘King’.
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