Kohli lasts 15 balls on return to Ranji Trophy after 12 years

For hours, they had waited. For days, they had been lining up. This was the moment the Arun Jaitley stadium was waiting for.

- Samreen Razzaqui

NEW DELHI: Yash Dhull had been dismissed by Rahul Sharma and Virat Kohli, back in Ranji whites for Delhi, was striding to the crease with a familiar, purposeful swagger. The stay was brief; it lasted all of 15 balls.

In that period too, Railways pacer Kunal Yadav had tested him, bowling in the channel outside off. He had managed to beat Kohli twice, pitching the ball into the sixth stump line on both occasions.

However, Kohli drilled a straight drive off Himanshu Sangwan for four, prompting the crowd to raise the volume. But then, cricket is a one-ball game for a batter, and when reality struck, all you heard was the sound of silence. The fairytale comeback was not to be on Friday; there was no glorious script, no redemption arc. Not yet, at least. Just a sudden, abrupt end.