Aside from Navdeep Saini, none of the current Delhi cricketers have had the chance to share a dressing room with Virat Kohli. For them, including captain Ayush Badoni, who met Kohli during the IPL, it was a dream come true as the 'King' made his return to first-class cricket for the first time since December 2012. Before the Delhi vs Railways Ranji Trophy Group D match, Kotla was buzzing with excitement for Kohli.

Typically, Ranji Trophy matches don’t draw big crowds, but if Tuesday's practice session is any indication, things might get lively in a couple of days.

Whether he's in form or not, Kohli remains the biggest star in Indian cricket. The excitement surrounding Delhi's practice session on Tuesday and the awe-struck reactions of the young players were clear signs of his influence.

"You're from Delhi, show some spirit. You started strong but then cooled off. Play positively like true Delhi players," Kohli said, addressing Delhi's up-and-down season.

Currently, Delhi is sitting at No.6 with just 14 points from six matches this season. They can't make it to the knockout rounds, but they can still finish strong, and having Kohli back is the perfect motivation?

How did Kohli perform in his first practice session with Delhi after 12 years?

It was a memorable day for the Sanat Sangwans, Arpit Ranas, and Siddhant Sharmas, but for Kohli, it was just another day at the office. He seemed to have left his superstar persona behind and showed up as their friendly 'Virat Bhaiya.'

The 35-minute warm-up before a meaningless final match against the Railways was the longest the senior team had spent stretching before hitting the nets.

They kicked around a football for 15 minutes, and Kohli even got in some sprints down the right side, sharing a few laughs along the way.

But as soon as the net session began, he switched to game mode.

He made his way to the nets where skipper Ayush Badoni was already batting.

Badoni felt a bit nervous as he saw Kohli heading towards the nets, but Kohli quickly reassured him, saying, "Ayush, you go ahead and bat first, and then we’ll switch." Kohli spent nearly an hour practicing, starting with throw-downs where he focused on perfecting his pull shot.

After getting warmed up, he moved to the spinners' nets to face left-arm bowlers Harsh Tyagi and Sumit Mathur. A few deliveries had some grip, but overall, their bowling didn’t pose much challenge.

The same went for the pace bowlers—Navdeep Saini, Money Grewal, Rahul Gehlot, and Siddhant Sharma. Unlike in the Indian nets, Kohli seemed pretty comfortable, although he was working on leaving a lot of balls. With the Champions Trophy approaching, he was seen focusing on playing close to the line of the deliveries.

Recently, he’s been honing his back-foot technique and expanding his shot range square of the wicket. Clearly, before stepping into the Champions Trophy, he views domestic cricket as a solid practice ground.

He was really pleased with the pitch conditions, praising the quality of the practice wicket and the center strip. I mentioned our young curator, Ankit Datta, and he responded, "Bhaiyya, I had a blast batting today. I’ll be back tomorrow for more!"

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