New Delhi, Nov 30 (IANS) Some innings begin quietly. Virat Kohli’s knock on Sunday did not.

The moment India lost an early wicket and Kohli walked out to bat in the first ODI of the three-match series against South Africa, Ranchi didn’t just react — it erupted.

A wall of sound rolled across the JSCA International Stadium, a roar so fierce it seemed capable of shaking the floodlights. Fans leapt to their feet, arms raised, phones trembling. They weren’t capturing a batter walking in; they were capturing the arrival of a legend.

“Kohli! Kohli! Kohli!” The chants echoed like shockwaves. A king had taken guard.

India had been jolted early — opener Yashasvi Jaiswal dismissed in the fourth over — but the moment Kohli joined Rohit Sharma, the night changed. The Proteas weren’t just up against two batters; they were confronting two giants who had decided the evening belonged to them. Rohit brought elegance, Kohli intensity. Together, they rebuilt the innings, then dominated the bowling. Their 136-run partnership felt like a proclamation chiselled across the Ranchi sky.

Rohit’s 57 came with fireworks, including the six that took him past Shahid Afridi’s ODI sixes record, before he walked back. Ruturaj Gaikwad barely got going before Dewald Brevis soared horizontally to claim a catch that defied belief.

With Washington Sundar’s support and later KL Rahul’s calm assurance, Kohli shaped an innings that felt less like batting and more like storytelling with a blade of willow.

He nudged, punched, drove — and ruled.

His fifty stirred the crowd. Then came the transformation. Kohli shifted gears, and Ranchi felt the temperature rise.

When the moment arrived — his 52nd ODI century, his 83rd international ton — the stadium didn’t just cheer. It exploded. This wasn’t a celebration; it was a coronation.

Kohli’s innings ended on 135 off 120 balls, courtesy of a sharp catch by Ryan Rickelton sprinting in from cover. But by then, the damage was done. The aura was restored. The noise eternal.

India closed on 349/8, though the scorecard can never capture what Ranchi witnessed.

The crowd didn’t watch a match. It watched a king reclaim his kingdom.

—IANS

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