The Vijay Hazare Trophy witnessed an exciting clash today as Virat Kohli's Delhi faced off against Gujarat at the BCCI Centre of Excellence in Bengaluru. This Group D encounter marks a significant moment in the tournament, with Kohli making a rare appearance in domestic one-day cricket.

Delhi, fresh off a victory against Andhra, aimed to continue their winning momentum. In their previous match, Virat Kohli showcased his exceptional form by scoring a remarkable 131 off 101 balls, guiding Delhi to successfully chase down a target of 299 runs. Priyansh Arya (74) and Nitish Rana (77) also contributed significantly to the victory. Simarjeet Singh's impressive five-wicket haul further solidified Delhi's strong start to the tournament.

Gujarat, on the other hand, commenced their campaign with an impressive eight-wicket win against Services. Their bowlers demonstrated exceptional skill, dismissing Services for a mere 184 runs, which they chased down with ease in just 34.5 overs.

Cricket enthusiasts were eager to witness Virat Kohli in action, especially after his magnificent century in the previous match. His return to the Vijay Hazare Trophy after 15 years has generated considerable excitement. Notably, in the match against Andhra, Kohli reached a historic milestone, becoming only the second Indian after Sachin Tendulkar to surpass 16,000 List A runs.

Unfortunately for fans, the match between Delhi and Gujarat was not televised. According to Ravichandran Ashwin, broadcasting decisions are typically made well in advance, which can make it difficult to accommodate last-minute changes such as the inclusion of star players like Kohli and Rohit Sharma.

The conditions at the BCCI Centre of Excellence in Bengaluru were expected to be ideal for a high-scoring game, with a flat, batting-friendly surface. The weather forecast predicted a high of 26°C during the afternoon, with a cooler start of around 14°C.

The squads for both teams are as follows:

• Gujarat: Aarya Desai, Urvil Patel (wk), Abhishek Desai, Jaymeet Patel, Chintan Gaja (c), Saurav Chauhan, Hemang Patel, Vishal Jayswal, Ravi Bishnoi, Arzan Nagwaswalla, Japagnya Bhatt, Ahaan Poddar, Amit Desai, Harshal Patel, Kshitij Patel, Siddharth Desai.
• Delhi: Priyansh Arya, Arpit Rana, Virat Kohli, Nitish Rana, Rishabh Pant (wk/c), Ayush Badoni, Harsh Tyagi, Navdeep Saini, Simarjeet Singh, Ishant Sharma, Prince Yadav, Sarthak Ranjan, Vaibhav Kandpal, Hrithik Shokeen, Yash Dhull, Rohan Rana, Divij Mehra, Tejasvi Dahiya, Ayush Doseja.

This match is particularly significant as it is expected to be Kohli's final appearance in the Vijay Hazare Trophy before he joins the Indian team for the upcoming ODI series against New Zealand. All eyes were on Kohli to see if he could replicate his stellar performance and lead Delhi to another victory.