Virat Kohli’s return sparks ticket craze as IND vs WI 1st ODI in Kerala sold out in hours

After the home series between India and Afghanistan in the Tests, ODIs, and T20Is, the blue brigade will shift their focus to the ODI and T20I series against West Indies at home, beginning on September 27 at the Greenfield International Stadium in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, as the craze has reached a different level.  

Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma, the two pioneers of Indian cricket, are set to make their return to international cricket after the end of the three-match 50-over series against England in the United Kingdom. Both, having retired from the Test and T20I formats of the game, are only focused on ODI cricket.

Greenfield Stadium tickets for IND vs WI 1st ODI sell out within a few hours of going live

The previous ODI clash at the Greenfield Stadium in Kerala took place in 2023 between India and Sri Lanka, when the home side posted a massive score of 390 runs for the loss of five wickets, thanks to two superb centuries from Shubman Gill (116 runs off 97 balls) and Kohli, who drilled an unbeaten 166 runs in just 110 balls.

See Also: Rahul Dravid and Virender Sehwag's sons shine as India U19 edge Australia in Rajkot thriller

Sri Lanka, in reply, were bundled out for just 73 and lost the contest by 317 runs. Kohli returns to this venue after three years and will be eager to make an impact with the bat. The ground has a capacity of 50000 people. Reports have claimed that the tickets were sold out in a few hours because of the craze for Kohli.

A few months ago, when the Indian side played the home series against Afghanistan, the stadiums were empty because Kohli missed that series. The games were held at venues like Ekana Stadium in Lucknow and the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai. However, people mostly avoided watching the games during those times.

Kerala gears up as fans wait to witness Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma back in India colours

Kohli celebrated two back-to-back fifties during the England series as he has cemented his place for the upcoming ODI World Cup 2027. There were rumours that Rohit Sharma could retire after the England series, but he shut down the criticism with a fine century at Lord’s. 

The BCCI has brought back both players for the West Indies series, while Yashasvi Jaiswal has also found a place as the backup opener. Auqib Nabi and Naman Dhir have also been picked in the 50-over format for the very first time.

See Also: 'Keeping his workload' - DDCA president gives big update on Virat Kohli's Vijay Hazare Trophy participation

India’s ODI team-

Shubman Gill [C], Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Ruturaj Gaikwad, KL Rahul [VC], Dhruv Jurel, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav, Prasidh Krishna, Gurnoor Brar, Mohammed Siraj, Auqib Nabi, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Naman Dhir.

India’s T20I team-

Shreyas Iyer [C], Abhishek Sharma, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, Ishan Kishan [WK], Sanju Samson [WK], Tilak Varma [VC], Shivam Dube, Kuldeep Yadav, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Ravi Bishnoi, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Arshdeep Singh, Prince Yadav, Mayank Yadav