Watch: Virat Kohli leaves stadium in swanky Porsche, Delhi crowd goes berserk | Cricket

As Virat Kohli gears up to play his first Test match at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in six years, the hype in Delhi is palpable. After all, this is the city where a promising boy from Paschim Vihar known as ‘Cheeku’ began his cricketing journey, which has now culminated into him becoming the best batter in the world. Starting Friday, Kohli will play his first Test in Delhi since 2017 and rest assured, the decibel levels are going to be deafening. And in order to make sure his 106th Test turns out to be memorable, Kohli is putting in the hard yards. For the last two days, Kohli hit the nets, where he batted for long hours, more specifically against spinners. Kohli hasn’t fared well against spinners lately and the former India captain is keen to change that trivia heading into the second India vs Australia Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.

However, after he completed his training and was about the leave the stadium, Kohli was mobbed by a section of the crowd who had come to the venue and were following the action from the sidelines. The fact that Kohli’s craze is unmatchable was aptly captured in a video which showed the public go crazy watching their quintessential superstar. As Kohli finished his session, he got inside his car – a swanky Porsche – and left, leaving the crowd in frenzy.

Watch the video below:

It’s not just the public that is eager to have Kohli back playing in Delhi. The former India captain himself could not control his excitement as he went on a nostalgic trip on his way to the stadium. Kohli took to Instagram to share a story with the caption: “A long drive towards the stadium in Delhi after ages. Such a nostalgic feeling.”

Kohli, who was dismissed cheaply for 12 in the series opener at Nagpur, could not have hoped to play the second match in Delhi. He boasts a superlative record at the Arun Jaitley Stadium. Earlier known as the iconic Feroz Shah Kotla, Kohli has scored 467 Test runs while batting at the venue, with two fifties and one double century. In his first Test in 2013, Kohli scored 1 and 42, followed by scores of 44 and 88 against South Africa in 2015. Two years later, Kohli faced Sri Lanka on his home turf and smashed the fifth double-ton of his career, scoring 243 as the match ended in a draw.

Between then and now, Kohli has been part of just one international fixture in Delhi – an ODI against Australia in 2019. Last year, Delhi got back to hosting matches for the first time after the Covid-19 pandemic as India faced South Africa in a T20I and later in an ODI, but on both occasions, Kohli was not part of the squad. In June, he had taken a small break and later in October, Kohli, along with the rest of his teammates, had flown to Australia for the T20 World Cup as a second-string Indian side took the field.