Former Pakistan cricketer Basit Ali was astonished by Virat Kohli’s massive fanbase witnessed during the Ranji Trophy match between Delhi and Railways. Kohli, one of India’s biggest icons, brought the Ranji Trophy back into the limelight when he decided to play a match against Railways. The batting maestro endured a tough time with the bat last year, and the underwhelming Border-Gavaskar Trophy forced him to get back to the Ranji Trophy to get his rhythm back.
Basit was surprised to witness such a craze for Kohli in his hometown of Delhi, where the fans come in massive numbers to watch him play the Ranji Trophy. He asked why he doesn’t play for the Delhi Capitals in the IPL.
“Yeh banda Delhi se kyu nahi khelta IPL mein, RCB se kyu khelta hai? (Why Kohli doesn’t play for Delhi in the IPL, why does he play for RCB)?” the 54-year-old said in a video on his YouTube channel ‘Basit Ali.’
On the final day of Ranji match between Delhi and Railways, three fans breached the security to meet Kohli. A heavy security cordon around the field of play was breached when three fans managed to hoodwink a group of more than 20 guards to make their way into the middle.
A similar incident happened on Day 1 when a fan managed to touch Kohli’s feet with the Indian superstar requesting the security officials to go easy on the intruder.
Basit spoke about Kohli’s fan following and said he was even trending in Pakistan.
“I have seen very few players in my life, maybe just 2-3, who had such fan-following. Aaj to Pakistan mein bhi trend bana hua tha. Sab likh rahe, ‘Dekho izzat isko bolte hain’ (Even people in Pakistan were writing, ‘see, this is called respect),” he said in the same video.
‘Virat Kohli was enjoying himself with his old friends’
Meanwhile, Kohli had a forgettable outing with the bat on his much-talked-about Ranji return, as he was dismissed for just 6. Pacer Himanshu Sangwan took the prized wicket of the former India captain as he uprooted his off-stump.
The former Pakistan cricketer further talked about Kohli’s connection with his old friends and the public, which was witnessed during the match.
“He was enjoying himself with his old friends and the public. The fans were just waiting for him to respond and chanting ‘Kohli, Kohli’ for his seven hours straight,” he further added.