Virat Kohli‘s return to domestic cricket after 12 years was met with a massive amount of fanfare, as the Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi was packed to the brim. With free entry for spectators, fans flocked outside the stadium from the early hours of Saturday morning. In the middle of the game, one fan tried his luck at meeting Kohli, and breached security to rush onto the stadium. The fan even knelt down and touched Kohli’s feet. However, he was soon escorted out by onrushing security guards.

The fan caused a halt in play, as he ran across towards Kohli with folded hands. The 36-year-old was fielding in the slip cordon, as Delhi chose to bowl first against Railways on Day 1 of the Ranji Trophy encounter.

Watch: Fan halts play, touches Virat Kohli’s feet

A Fan entered the ground to meet Virat Kohli and he touched Kohli’s feet. (Sarah Waris).

KING KOHLI – THE EMOTIONS, THE GOAT. pic.twitter.com/oytIGjtu1k

— Tanuj Singh (@ImTanujSingh) January 30, 2025

The fan’s action to touch Kohli’s feet created a startling moment, and it wasn’t long before security guards had escorted him out of the playing area.

The turnout at Arun Jaitley Stadium underscores the impact Kohli continues to have on Indian cricket, even in domestic tournaments. His presence has breathed new life into the Ranji Trophy.

The Delhi-Railways clash is all set to be a must-watch clash as Virat will grind it out in Delhi jersey as he continues his journey towards redemption in the longest format. After years of breaking records, securing memorable wins as a captain and setting new benchmarks in Indian cricket, the 36-year-old has taken a humble refuge in domestic cricket to rediscover the consistency that set him apart from other players.

Ahead of the match, Virat had a two-day practice session with his Delhi teammates, a team led by young Ayush Badoni. During the practice, Virat clearly had the time of his life bonding with his new teammates, out of which plenty must have had grown up watching his heroics on the field.

As part of its commitment to inclusivity, Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) is expanding its reach by offering content in multiple languages, with Kannada as the first launch on the occasion of Karnataka Rajyotsava. RCB’s Kannada Instagram page, launched recently, saw a tremendous response, amassing over 1.6 lakh followers in just one month. This highlights the team’s dedication to its local fanbase, while also reinforcing the importance of engaging in the native language to foster a deeper and more personal connection.

With this digital strategy, RCB aims to make player stories accessible to all cricket lovers.

In addition to the content creation for the Kannada page, RCB is working on dubbing content in multiple Indian languages, celebrating the vibrant culture and spirit of the country, with Karnataka being at the forefront.

The franchise felt encouraged seeing the enthusiasm of fans for the first regional Kannada page to continue bringing fans closer to the team while embracing and celebrating the diversity of its supporters.

A fan-edited photograph showing Virat Kohli lifting the 2024 T20 World Cup title alongside his father has gone viral on social media. Kohli’s father, Prem Nath, passed away in late 2006 after a cerebral attack. The Indian legend has often credited his father for being the driving force and inspiration during his early cricketing years. Now, as Kohli lifted only his third major ICC trophy – and his first-ever T20 World Cup – the heartwarming photoshopped image sent fans on X into a frenzy.

Created by a user named ‘ind_cyborg’ on Instagram, the video shows a picture of Kohli’s father being edited beside him as he’s lifting the T20 World Cup trophy.

Fans of Kohli and the Indian cricket team lapped up the video, with several tagging Kohli and his wife Anushka Sharma, hoping for the star to see the edit.

OMGGG @imVkohli should def see this one! https://t.co/nmCThi45Vl

— F. (@FlaviaNagpal) July 2, 2024

After a disappointing run of form, Kohli top-scored with a 59-ball 76 and won the ‘Player of the Match’ in the Final, as India dramatically beat South Africa by seven runs. Struggling at 34/3, Kohli anchored the Indian batting and guided the team to a good total of 171 in 20 overs.

After the game, Kohli announced his retirement from T20I cricket. He amassed 4,188 runs in 117 innings, at an astonishing average of 48.69 in the shortest format.

Kohli will still likely continue to play the IPL, where he is expected to be retained by Royal Challengers Bengaluru.

“This was an open secret (retirement). Not something that I wasn’t going to announce even if we had lost. Time for the next generation to take the T20 game forward,” Kohli confirmed when asked by Harsha Bhogle if he was making the official announcement about him calling it a day, during the presentation ceremony of the final.

India lifted their second T20 World Cup title on June 29.