Ranji Trophy 2025 Day 2 | Delhi vs Railways: Delhi maintains steady pace as Badoni anchors the innings with a solid 82

Meghalaya are 7 down for 6 Mumbai bowlers Shardul Thakur claimed 4/1 (3 Overs). M Avasthi 2/6 (3 Overs).

The DDCA has made the match open to the public with free entry, requiring only that fans bring their Aadhaar card for access. Meanwhile, broadcasters Jio Cinema, who were not initially set to cover the game live, are now arranging for a live telecast.

Fans are thrilled to see Virat Kohli back in action, with many lining up to watch him play. Originally, entry was allocated through Gates 16 and 17 at the Arun Jaitley Stadium, but the large crowd made it necessary to open Gate 18 as well for safe entry.

“Fans are gathered in large numbers outside Gates 16 and 17. Police are struggling to control the crowd, which is as large as that seen at an IPL match. Chants of ‘RCB, RCB’ (referring to Royal Challengers Bangalore, the team Kohli plays for in the IPL) can be heard all the way from the nearby metro station,” reported The Indian Express journalist Pratyush Raj from Kotla.

In Mumbai vs Meghalaya match, India pacer Shardul Thakur wreaked havoc as he took four wickets in just two overs. Meghalaya have lost their six wickets for just 2 runs. 21 is the lowest team total in Ranji history. It came in 2010-11, when Hyderabad were bowled out for 21 by Rajasthan.

After Siddhant Sharma’s two wickets, Delhi bowler Navdeep Saini provided the team with Vivek Singh’s wicket for a duck. Railways are 21/3

Delhi’s Siddhant Sharma provided Delhi their first breakthrough in the second over only when he claimed Anchit Yadav’s wicket. Yadav departed for just 7 runs. Railways 12/1 in 2 overs

Delhi skipper Ayush Badoni has won the toss and decided to bowl first here at Arun Jaitley Stadium this morning. Here are the Playing XIs:

Delhi (Playing XI): Arpit Rana, Sanat Sangwan, Virat Kohli, Yash Dhull, Ayush Badoni(c), Pranav Rajuvanshi(w), Sumit Mathur, Shivam Sharma, Navdeep Saini, Money Grewal, Siddhant Sharma

Railways (Playing XI): Anchit Yadav, Vivek Singh, Suraj Ahuja(c), Upendra Yadav(w), Mohammad Saif, Bhargav Merai, Karn Sharma, Rahul Sharma, Himanshu Sangwan, Ayan Chaudhari, Kunal Yadav

The final round of matches brings a unique wave of excitement, not just because of the race for the quarter-final spots—where only Vidarbha is assured of qualification—but also due to Virat Kohli‘s long-awaited return to the Ranji Trophy after more than 12 years.

Daya Sagar reports from Kotla, where the crowd is in frenzy, with thousands of fans flocking to watch Delhi face Railways, all eager to see their idol in action. However, they will have to wait as Delhi is bowling first.

Meanwhile, in Bengaluru, KL Rahul returns for Karnataka after a five-year absence. Karnataka faces a must-win situation against Haryana, making their path to qualification a crucial one. Here’s a look at what each knockout contender needs to do to secure a spot.

Karnataka face a tough challenge in their bid to qualify as they take on table-toppers Haryana, with KL Rahul making his return to the squad. Rahul is set to bat at No. 3, while Mayank Agarwal and KV Aneesh will open. Devdutt Padikkal drops to No. 4. Karnataka, having lost the toss, are put in to bat on a pitch lacking the usual greenish tinge at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium. To qualify, Karnataka need a win with a bonus point, making this a crucial innings for the team.

Full squads

Baroda

Jyotsnil Singh, Kinit Patel, Shashwat Rawat, Shivalik Sharma, Vishnu Solanki, Abhimanyusingh Rajput, Atit Sheth, Krunal Pandya, Ninad Rathva, Priyanshu Moliya, Sukirt Pandey, Akshay More, Mitesh Patel, Akash Singh, Bhargav Bhatt, Lakshit Toksiya, Lukman Meriwala, Mahesh Pithiya, Raj Limbani

Jammu and Kashmir squad

Abdul Samad, Abhinav Puri, Ahmed Banday, Musaif Ajaz, Paras Dogra, Qamran Iqbal, Shubham Khajuria, Shubham Pundir, Vivrant Sharma, Abid Mushtaq, Lone Nasir, Sahil Lotra, Vanshaj Sharma, Yawer Khan, Fazil Rashid, Kanhaiya Wadhawan, Shivansh Sharma, Auqib Nabi, Rasikh Salam, Rohit Sharma, Umar Nazir Mir, Umran Malik, Waseem Bashir, Yudhvir Singh

Delhi captain Ayush Badoni has confirmed that Virat Kohli will bat at No. 4 when he makes his highly anticipated return to the Ranji Trophy on Thursday, January 30, against Railways. After 13 years away from Delhi’s domestic team, Kohli is looking to regain form following a tough run during the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in Australia.

Badoni, speaking to PTI, shared that Kohli has encouraged the team to play with positivity and confidence. “He will bat at No. 4. He has told us to be positive and express ourselves confidently,” Badoni said. “Having played against Virat bhaiyya in the IPL, it is an honor to now lead both Rishabh and Virat bhaiyya in back-to-back matches.”

Bengal’s hopes of reaching the Ranji Trophy knockout stage depend on a decisive victory over Punjab in their final Elite Group-C match at Eden Gardens on Thursday. The team needs to secure a bonus point and rely on an unlikely sequence of results to make it to the next stage.

Bengal’s Playoff Dreams Rest on a ‘Miracle’ Scenario

After an outright loss to Haryana, Bengal is placed fourth with 14 points from six matches. For qualification, they must defeat Punjab while hoping Kerala and Karnataka fail to gain points in their respective matches. If the team does not qualify, Thursday’s match could mark the farewell of international wicketkeeper-batter Wriddhiman Saha.

Bengal’s Team Struggles with Key Absences and Injuries

With several key players missing due to injury or national duty, Bengal may be without Mukesh Kumar, while Suraj Jaiswal is set to lead the attack. Sudip Chatterjee will return, and a strong middle order is expected to contribute heavily in batting. The team may experiment with a couple of uncapped players as well.

Punjab Faces Absence of Key Players but Seeks Strong Finish

Punjab, missing key players such as Shubman Gill and international stars Abhishek Sharma, Arshdeep Singh, and Ramandeep Singh, aims to bounce back from its defeat to Karnataka and end the season on a high. With the focus on Anmolpreet Singh and Jaskaranvir Singh in batting, and Gurnoor Brar and Mayank Markande in bowling, they hope to finish with a strong performance.

Virat Kohli has played four Test matches at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi since his red-ball debut against the West Indies in 2011. In those eight innings, Kohli has amassed 531 runs, including one double century and two half-centuries at the iconic venue.