Published: Dec 24, 2025, 06:09 PM (IST)
Edited: Dec 24, 2025, 06:09 PM (IST)
Virat Kohli made a powerful return to the Vijay Hazare Trophy. Kohli was playing in the tournament after 15 years, and he marked his comeback with a magnificent century. He showed exactly why he is considered one of the best batsmen in ODI cricket.
Andhra Pradesh had set a target of 299 runs for Delhi, a target that was by no means easy. Kohli once again took on the responsibility of chasing the target. Delhi had suffered an early setback, but batting in difficult situations is nothing new for Virat. He has been doing it for years, and he did it again on Wednesday. His shot selection was excellent.
Virat played a brilliant innings of 118 runs off 94 balls. Kohli played several excellent shots on the off-side during his innings. His off-side play has been under scrutiny lately, and Kohli seemed to have overcome those issues in this innings. He hit five fours and three sixes on the off-side.
And the innings also showcased what can be considered Virat Kohli’s greatest strength: his running between the wickets. This has been a hallmark of his batting. Kohli scored 37 runs in singles and 8 runs in doubles.
Virat Kohli also achieved a personal milestone during this innings. He became the second Indian batsman after Sachin Tendulkar to complete 16,000 runs in the List A format. Kohli reached this milestone in his 343rd List A match. Overall, he is the ninth batsman to achieve this feat in this format. This highlights the consistency of Kohli’s performance.
| Player | Matches | Innings | Not Outs | Total Runs | Highest Score | Average | Centuries | Half-Centuries |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Graham Gooch | 613 | 601 | 48 | 22211 | 198* | 40.16 | 44 | 139 |
| Graham Hick | 651 | 630 | 96 | 22059 | 172* | 41.30 | 40 | 139 |
| Sachin Tendulkar | 551 | 538 | 55 | 21999 | 200* | 45.54 | 60 | 114 |
| Kumar Sangakkara | 529 | 501 | 54 | 19456 | 169 | 43.52 | 39 | 120 |
| Vivian Richards | 500 | 466 | 61 | 16995 | 189* | 41.96 | 26 | 109 |
| Ricky Ponting | 456 | 445 | 53 | 16363 | 164 | 41.74 | 34 | 99 |
| Gordon Greenidge | 440 | 436 | 33 | 16349 | 186* | 40.56 | 33 | 94 |
| Sanath Jayasuriya | 557 | 542 | 25 | 16128 | 189 | 31.19 | 31 | 82 |
| Virat Kohli | 343 | 330 | 50 | 16130 | 183 | — | 58 | 84 |
Kohli’s innings finally came to an end at a personal score of 131 runs off 101 balls. He was dismissed by PVSN Raju. Kohli hit 14 fours and three sixes in his innings. Delhi captain Rishabh Pant, who came to bat next, praised Kohli for his performance.
Kohli’s performance in domestic cricket will be closely watched. Virat has now retired from Test and T20 formats and only plays ODI cricket. Kohli is still a contender to play in the 2027 ODI World Cup, and he will continue to answer his critics with his performances. Kohli has performed well in the ODI format recently. He scored two centuries and a knock of 65 runs in the recently concluded three-match ODI series against South Africa.
Along with Kohli, Rohit Sharma also scored a century on his return. Rohit played a knock of 155 runs for Mumbai against Sikkim. Rohit was playing in this tournament after seven years. However, there was no live streaming or coverage of these two matches. Because of this, fans couldn’t enjoy watching them. And when fans realized that both of their favorite batsmen had scored centuries but they wouldn’t be able to see it, their frustration must have increased even more.
