'People standing in line from 4 AM...'- Former BCCI selector recalls craze for Virat Kohli in Ranji match

The former BCCI selector recalled some incidents when Virat Kohli went to play the Ranji Trophy after over a decade. He was out of form against Australia and returned to domestic cricket as per BCCI mandates. When the batting icon decided to represent Delhi in a Ranji match, local cricket fans were overwhelmed.

Fans turned out in record numbers only to see Virat in a Ranji game. In a recent conversation, Sarandeep Singh explains how fans were crazy for Kohli. The former cricketer said that people were gathered in large numbers. Fans were waiting in a queue outside the stadium from 4 A.M. of the winter dawn. There were a few thousand free seats allotted to mark the special occasions. The organizers then had no clue how crowded they were going to manage.

Singh also said that he talked with a police officer who assumed that roughly 2000 to 4000 fans might come. But in reality, on the day of the match, more than 25 thousand fans were there, only because of Virat Kohli. Sarandeep compared the Ranji Trophy match atmosphere with a World Cup final. 

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Vibe like a World Cup final

"There was a discussion about 10,000 seats for free. So I asked the security how many fans might come, and the police officer said, "Not too many, maybe around 2,000 to 4,000." But when we came the next day, people were already standing in line from 4 AM in the cold weather, and more than 25,000 people showed up. The atmosphere was such that it felt like a World Cup Final was going to be played," Sarandeep Singh said. 

Delhi won the Ranji Trophy match against Railways by an inning and 19 runs. Ayush Badoni scored 99, Sumit Mathur scored 86, and Virat got only 6 off 15.