Delhi's playing XI from Virat Kohli's last Ranji Trophy match in 2012 - where are they now?
An age has pased since Virat Kohli last played domestic red-ball cricket in India. Reports of him getting back to the grind via the Duleep Trophy to prepare for a big Test season did rounds recently but fizzled out. The current expectation is that it's "unclear" whether he will feature or not.
As he was supposed to be, Virat Kohli was brilliant in the format. He played 25 first-class matches for Delhi, scoring 1843 runs at an average of 52.65, smashing six tons and as many half-centuries in six years.
Virat Kohli's last match came against Uttar Pradesh in Ghaziabad in the 2012 edition of the Ranji Trophy, where he scored 14 (19) and 44 (65) in a losing cause. However, his career had already been on the move by then.
It took off so well that year that Virat Kohli became a regular in all three formats and never got the time or the need to return to where it all started.
To reflect Virat Kohli's longevity, let's see Delhi's playing XI from that day and where they are now:
Openers: Virender Sehwag (R) and Gautam Gambhir
Delhi fielded a star-studded lineup, with India openers Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir leading them up front. Sehwag was also the captain and scored a valiant century in the second innings with an injured finger, trying to save the match even as wickets tumbled at the other end.
Sehwag is now a pundit, broadcaster and entrepreneur who runs several businesses. Recently, he was on the stage as the ambassador of the Delhi Premier League - an upcoming T20 competition in the capital that begins on August 17.
Gambhir, meanwhile, is the head coach of the India men's team after replacing Rahul Dravid. He has been a vocal voice of domestic cricket, and it won't be wrong to feel that the reported move to bring international stars back to the domestic circuit for a few games could have come from him.
Top and middle order: Unmukt Chand, Virat Kohli, Mithun Manhas and Punit Bisht
Virat Kohli batted at number four and three, respectively, in the two innings. On either side of him were Unmukt Chand - the man who was tipped as the next Virat Kohli after winning the Under-19 World Cup with India - and Mithun Manhas.
Chand struggled to recreate his U19 success in domestic cricket and the IPL and eventually retired from Indian cricket at the age of 29 in 2021 to move to the USA. There, he performed decently in Minor League Cricket to make it to the Major League Cricket and became eligible to be selected for the USA international side but is still searching for his first call-up.
Manhas, meanwhile, was an out-to-out stalwart of Delhi cricket, often captaining the side in Gambhir and Sehwag's absence. He scored a ton of runs, but they were never enough to get him past India's 'Big Four' middle-order in Tests. He started coaching in 2017 in the IPL with Kings XI Punjab (now Punjab Kings) and is now working as an assistant coach with the Gujarat Titans.
Manhas often partnered with wicketkeeper batter Punit Bisht at the other end. The diminutive but strong batter represented Delhi, Jammu and Kashmir and Meghalya in a 17-year-long first-class career. scoring over 5,000 runs, including a triple century.
Bisht even played in Bangladesh and the UK before retiring from all forms of the game in 2023. He has been out of the public eye since then.
All-rounders and bowlers: Sumit Narwal, Pradeep Sangwan, Ashish Nehra, Ishant Sharma and Vikas Mishra
Delhi's bowling attack had a ton of pacers. All-rounder Sumit Narwal was often the bridge between the two sections of the line-up, taking over 200 wickets and scoring close to 2000 runs in First-Class cricket.
He was last seen in action in 2016 and has since transitioned to politics in Haryana for the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party.
Pradeep Sangwan, meanwhile, was one of Delhi's frontline pacers for a long time, often making the difference in games with his slingy left-arm deliveries. The 33-year-old last played first-class cricket in 2022 but is still knocking on the doors.
He represented Gujarat Titans in IPL 2022 and last played T20 cricket for Delhi in the 2023 Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy.
Sangwan's coach at the Titans was his former teammate Ashish Nehra. The left-arm quick took the Titans to a title in 2022 and runners-up finish in 2023 before seeing them fall to eighth in a tumultuous 2024.
Although he continues to work as a pundit, there's uncertainty around whether he will continue as the franchise's head coach for a fourth year.
Ishant Sharma, a veteran of Delhi and Indian cricket, played his last Test for India in 2021 but continues to represent the Delhi Capitals with aplomb in the IPL. He will also be seen in action in the DPL for Purani Dilli 6 alongside Rishabh Pant.
The only specialist spinner in that Delhi side featuring Virat Kohli was 19-year-old left-arm orthodox bowler Vikas Mishra. He's the only one in the group still representing Delhi in first-class cricket and completed 50 games (176 wickets) this year in the Ranji Trophy.