IPL 2025 is all set to resume from Saturday with Royal Challengers Bengaluru hosting Kolkata Knight Riders at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium. The T20 league from suspended midway due to the border tensions between India and Pakistan. The first match after the resumption will be a crucial one for RCB as a victory will take them straight into the playoffs. Apart from this, the game will also be a special one as it mark star batter Virat Kohli’s first appearance after he announced his retirement from Test cricket.
Ahead of the match, a heartfelt moment between Kohli and KKR skipper Ajinkya Rahane was captured which left the fans emotional. In a video posted on KKR’s X handle (formerly Twitter), Kohli and Rahane were seen meeting each other during the practice session.
The #TATAIPL2025 action is back!
Location: M Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru pic.twitter.com/1OitOOMd41
— KolkataKnightRiders (@KKRiders) May 15, 2025
During their meet, the duo was seen hugging each other, triggering the memories of their days in the Indian Test team. Rahane was one of the most important members of the Indian Test setup but has been ignored by the selectors since 2023.
Before the England tour of five Tests kick-starting India’s ICC World Test Championship campaign, the 36-year-old Virat sent shockwaves in world cricket after announcing his decision to pull down the curtains on his 14-year, 123-match-long Test career.
In his Test career, the 36-year-old made 123 appearances in white clothing, scoring 9,230 runs at an average of 46.85, with 30 centuries and 31 fifties in 210 innings and the best score of 254*. He is India’s fourth-highest run-getter in the format, behind Sachin Tendulkar (15,921 runs), Rahul Dravid (13,265 runs), and Sunil Gavaskar (10,122 runs).
He made his Test debut in June 2011 against the West Indies. While his first Test tour was a massive disappointment with just 76 runs in five innings, a young Virat made a name for himself with some serious, counter-attacking knocks in the coming days. His rise as a Test player started with his maiden ton against Australia at Adelaide in 2012, when he made 116 in 213 balls.
In a tour where no other could touch 300 runs for India and giants like Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, VVS Laxman, and Virender Sehwag looked a shadow of their dominant selves, Virat top-scored for India with 300 runs in four Tests, including a century and fifty.
(With ANI Inputs)
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