Thousands of fans have filled a stadium in the Indian capital, Delhi, as Virat Kohli makes his much-anticipated return to domestic cricket after more than 12 years. The 36-year-old star batter has turned out for Delhi on Thursday in the Ranji Trophy match against the Railways team at the well-attended Arun Jaitley stadium.

At first, the DDCA opened the roughly 6,000-capacity 'Gautam Gambhir Stand' for spectators but sensing the crowd situation could go out of hand, the officials were forced to open the 'Bishan Bedi Stand' which can accommodate around 14,

Over 15,000 cricket fans gathered at Arun Jaitley Stadium to watch Virat Kohli 's return to the Ranji Trophy. The former Indian captain is playing against Railways, his first first-class appearance for the first time since 2012.

Virat Kohli’s return to the Ranji Trophy after more than a decade has ignited immense excitement among cricket fans, drawing fresh attention to India’s premier domestic tournament. The star batter, who last played in the competition in 2012, was named in Delhi’s starting XI for their clash against Railways.

The star batter is all set to return to his Delhi team for the final round of the group stage of the domestic first-class tournament against Railways—and that too after 13 years! Well, we have all seen Virat Kohli making record after record at the international level, but we haven't seen him playing Ranji in a very long time.

The unmatched aura of Virat Kohli was on full display in and around the Arjun Jaitley Stadium even before the Ranji Trophy fixture between Delhi and Railways could start here as thousands of fans queued up to watch the superstar in his first domestic red-ball appearance in 13 years.