What happened when Virat Kohli last played Ranji 12 years ago: Bhuvi's double strike; Sehwag's magical century of no use

Virat Kohli is all set to make a return to the Ranji Trophy after 12 long years. The right-handed batter has already landed in Delhi and is practicing with the rest of the Delhi squad for the game against Railways, set to begin on January 30 at the Arun Jaitley Stadium.

Kohli has been named in the 20-member squad for Delhi's upcoming tie against Railways. The 36-year-old is the latest high-profile name to return to domestic cricket after BCCI's diktat, which made it mandatory for every centrally contracted player to represent their respective state teams to remain in the fray for selection and central contracts.

Kohli's last Ranji Trophy appearance came way back in 2012. He played the match for Delhi against Uttar Pradesh in Ghaziabad. In this particular game, the right-hander scored 14 runs off 19 balls in the first innings.

In the second innings, Kohli faced a total of 65 balls and scored 43 runs. On both occasions, the former India captain lost his wicket to Bhuvneshwar Kumar.

It is interesting to note that Kohli's last Ranji Trophy match in 2012 also featured current head coach Gautam Gambhir, then Delhi captain Virender Sehwag, Ashish Nehra, and Ishant Sharma.

In the match, Delhi scored 235 runs in the first innings and conceded a lead of 168 runs as Uttar Pradesh piled on 403 runs. Sehwag then registered a ton in the second innings to help Delhi score 322 runs.

Uttar Pradesh were given a target of 155 runs, and the hosts comfortably chased down the total inside 40 overs with six wickets in hand.

How has Kohli performed in the Ranji Trophy?

Virat Kohli has played 41 matches for Delhi across all red-ball competitions, scoring 2891 runs in 64 innings at an average of 51.62. His highest score is 197.

Kohli made his first-class debut in 2006 as he played for Delhi against Tamil Nadu at the Feroz Shah Kotla (now Arun Jaitley Stadium) in Delhi. The right-hander batted just once, scoring 10 runs before losing his wicket to Yo Mahesh.

The match eventually ended in a draw. Shikhar Dhawan had also struck a century in this game while batting at No.3.

The biggest defining moment in Virat Kohli's early career came when he was playing for Delhi against Karnataka. During the match, Kohli’s father, Prem Kohli, passed away from a heart attack.

Kohli, who was unbeaten on 40 overnight, returned to the field the next day and scored a crucial 90 runs for his team. Following his innings, Kohli attended his father’s funeral.

The batter has been struggling for form off late and he only managed 190 runs in the nine innings against Australia in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. He constantly chased deliveries bowled well outside off stump and kept nicking off to the wicketkeeper or the slip fielders.

One can only hope Kohli's return to domestic cricket proves fruitful and he gains the peak of his powers. He has already started fine-tuning his backfoot gameplay, and it remains to be seen how his Ranji Trophy fares.