Kohli falls after 15 balls, fans make beeline for exit

Virat Kohli's off stump went for a 'walk'. In fact, it cart-wheeled several yards after getting uprooted by medium pacer Himanshu Sangwan's in-swinging delivery to stun the boisterous crowd on Day 2 of the Ranji Trophy encounter between Delhi and Railways at the Arun Jaitley Stadium.

Only a ball before his dismissal, Kohli, standing well outside his crease, had dispatched Sangwan for a four with a ferocious on-drive. The crowd erupted in unison as if he completed a much-awaited century at his home ground. Before that, every defensive shot or a single taken by Kohli was celebrated by around the 5,000 fans who turned up to watch him bat.

As Kohli took the long walk to the pavilion, ironically named after him, the fans also made a beeline for the exit doors and only a thousand stayed back and tried to cheer him up with occasional chants of 'RCB, RCB' and 'Kohli, Kohli' as he sat with the team on the balcony to watch the proceedings.

The fans were enjoying his mere presence. His walk to the crease was celebrated with a huge roar. They even celebrated Yash Dhull's dismissal, who was caught plumb in his crease by left-arm pacer Rahul Sharma. They were in for a huge disappointment as Kohli's first domestic match in over a decade lasted for only 21 minutes and he faced 15 deliveries in all.

For Sangwan, though, it was one of the greatest moments as a cricketer as he celebrated a famous scalp in his First-Class career. The dismissal not only had the crowd in shock, it sent Kohli fans on social media platforms in a meltdown. Any Himanshu Sangwan found online was abused for ruining Kohli's homecoming. One such Himanshu Sangwan had to share a story on Instagram to stop the abuse, saying 'Bhaiyo mein wo cricket wala Himanshu Sangwan nahi hoon (brothers I am not that Himanshu Sangwan that plays cricket). The real player, like his nuanced deliveries, made his account private.

He dismissed any suggestions that he had made his account private only days ahead of the match. "My account has been private for long," said Sangwan, who had made his debut for Delhi's U-19 alongside India international Rishabh Pant.

But he did divulge that the bowling plan for the top-six in Delhi's line-up was to be patient. "Delhi's batsmen are very good in white-ball cricket. Their batsmen want to be aggressive all the time. They do not like to play slow. So our plan was not to attack them, we had to bowl in the same channel and wait for their mistakes," he said.

Delhi take control

While Kohli missed out, Delhi skipper Ayush Badoni helped his team take control of the Group D encounter. At stumps, Delhi had taken a 93-run lead as they ended the day on 334/7 as Badoni propped up the innings.

After Dhull and Kohli's dismissals, Delhi lost opener Sanat Sangwan, who was castled by Himanshu. And from 78/1, they slid to 97/4. Badoni and Sumit Mathur put together a 133-run partnership for the fifth wicket. Spinners including left-arm orthodox Ayan Chaudhari and leg-spinner Karn Sharma were dispatched to boundaries at will. The scoring rate was almost five runs an over but Badoni lost his wicket while trying to hit Sharma for a six to complete his century. That shot was perhaps the only blot on the innings that has raised Delhi's hopes to play for an outright win.

Brief scores: Railways 241 all out; Delhi 334/7 in 96 overs (Badoni 99, Mathur 78*; Sangwan 2/46, Yadav 2/82)