"Dropped At 1 AM...": When Kohli's Father Refused To Bribe For Selection

Thousands gathered at Delhi's Arun Jaitley Stadium on Thursday to catch a glimpse of star batter Virat Kohli, who is making his Ranji Trophy return after more than 12 years. Kohli's last Ranji Trophy appearance came in 2012 as Delhi lost to Uttar Pradesh by six wickets in Ghaziabad. The overwhelming turnout at the stadium highlighted Kohli's immense popularity, even at the domestic level. Kohli, 36, is one of the most established names in world cricket and enjoys a huge fan following. However, he didn't achieve this fame overnight.

Kohli's journey to the pinnacle of world cricket has had plenty of hardships. He lost his father in the middle of a Ranji Trophy match when he was playing for Delhi against Karnataka, at the age of 18.

Few years back, Kohli revealed that his father once refused to bribe an official for his selection. He said his father never believed in taking shortcuts to attain success and always taught him to have faith in hard work.

"I was selected for the U-14 Delhi team and then I was dropped at 1:00 AM because of some complications..., you know how and what happens at the state levels, someone was preferred over me because of some compensations that were done," Kohli had revealed in a chat.

"The same was offered to my father as well. That if you can (pay for selection), maybe he (Kohli) can get into the team after two games. My father straightaway said 'I'm not gonna pay a single penny to make him play. If he can play on his talent, so be it. If not, it's not meant for him'," he added.

Kohli has been facing a massive decline in his Test performances that dates back to the start of 2020. In 39 Test matches since the start of 2020, he has scored just 2,028 runs at an average of 30.72, with just three centuries and nine fifties to show. His best score is 186.

Kohli ended the ICC World Test Championship 2023-25 cycle with 751 runs in 14 matches and 25 innings at an average of 32.65, with two centuries and three fifties. His best score was 121.

In 10 Tests last year, he scored just 417 runs at an average of 24.52 with just one century and fifty, to conclude a disappointing year.

With a hope to rediscover the hunger and tools needed to have a lengthy, one last purple patch in Test cricket, Kohli's return to Ranji marks a massive moment in Indian cricket in recent times as the domestic scene has not witnessed a lot of superstars going back to the basics, to the roots of their superstardom.