Virat Kohli rolls back the years with a vintage masterclass in Bengaluru
Virat Kohli didn’t just bat on the outskirts of Bengaluru — he brought the place alive.
Amid a blur of boundaries and roaring reactions, the familiar building blocks of a classic Kohli innings were unmistakably back. The hard running. The urgency between the wickets. The constant hunt for twos where none seemed possible. And, as always, the subtle mind games — nudging bowlers into second-guessing their lengths and lines.
This wasn’t the Chinnaswamy Stadium. It wasn’t a packed international venue. It was the Centre of Excellence on a calm winter afternoon. Yet, somehow, it crackled with the kind of electricity only Kohli can generate.
Delhi’s chase wasn’t being watched for suspense or drama. Everyone had one goal in mind: watching Kohli get a hundred.
From the moment he walked out in the first over of a 299-run chase against Andhra, the attention narrowed. Fans leaned forward. Phones were lifted. Conversations stopped. It had been nearly 15 years since Kohli last played a Vijay Hazare Trophy game, but nothing about this felt nostalgic in a slow, fading sense. This felt urgent. Alive.
Kohli started aggressively, taking on spin early. Not just nudging singles, but actively disrupting lengths. He even brought out the sweep — a shot he rarely uses — almost as a statement. He wanted control. He wanted momentum.
A thump over mid-off pushed him into the 80s. A scorching straight drive off Nitish Kumar Reddy — so fierce the bowler had to duck out of the way — took him into the 90s. There was barely time to blink before Kohli skipped down the pitch and carved Reddy inside-out over cover. Three balls. That’s all it took.
By then, it was chaos.
Just after 1.30 pm, as policemen broke for lunch, fans clambered onto boundary walls and even parked container trucks outside the ground. India Under-19 players abandoned their meals the moment they saw Kohli walk out to bat. Even ground staff and security couldn’t resist filming, soaking in the moment.
And Kohli, fully aware of the frenzy, soaked it back in too.
He moved into his strokes with that old, unmistakable certainty — meeting the ball early, neutralising movement, trusting muscle memory. When the excitement dipped, just slightly, he found another gear. Two crisp boundaries threaded through cover-point. Cameras whirred. Applause followed. A wave came back.
Virat Kohli electrifies the outskirts of the city with a classic knock that turns a quiet afternoon into a spectacle
Kohli reached his half-century off just 39 balls, bringing it up with a slap over point. It felt less like a milestone and more like confirmation: he was in full flow.
This wasn’t a one-off either. Kohli carried the form straight from his recent ODI series in South Africa, where he struck two centuries and a fifty to earn Player of the Series honours. The rhythm was familiar. The hunger unmistakable.
At the other end, Priyansh Arya added contrast — raw power to Kohli’s elegance. Where Kohli caressed and timed, Arya muscled and smashed. Together, they piled on 113 runs in just 11.5 overs, reducing Andhra’s bowlers to spectators.
As Kohli neared his hundred, anticipation tightened. Cameras readied. Phones steadied. One flat-batted boundary brought him within touching distance. The inevitable followed — a wristy whip down the ground, all bottom-hand strength, sealing the century.
He glanced back. Acknowledged the applause. Smiled.
It was vintage Kohli — not just the shots, but the presence. The pull. The way an otherwise quiet ground turned electric simply because he was there.
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Far from the city that made him its own, far from packed stands and television audiences, Virat Kohli reminded everyone why afternoons like these still revolve around him. And as he walked off, one question lingered quietly in the background:
Was this just a domestic knock — or the spark of something building toward 2027?
