Former India cricketer Ambati Rayudu has said that Virat Kohli does not need the Ranji Trophy and no one should force him to play the tournament, while the star batter was playing the final round of the league stage of the tournament, representing Delhi against Railways. Kohli returned to the Ranji Trophy as he featured in Delhi's seventh-round game of the ongoing season at his home ground, the Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi.

It is normal for fans to breach security in a desperate attempt to be up and close to their cricketing heroes but those scenes are reserved for international games. Such was the fanfare around Kohli's return that four intruders dodged security to enter the ground over three days.

Rayudu said that Kohli does not need to play Ranji Trophy to improve his form. He said that Kohli's technique was good enough to help him score 81 hundreds and runs would flow again.

"Right now Virat Kohli doesn't need Ranji. His technique was good for 81 hundreds and it will be good going forward as well," Rayudu tweeted on Saturday afternoon.

Kohli was in poor form in India's recent long Test season as he scored 382 runs from 10 games at an average of 22.47 with one century and as many half-centuries to his name. After India's 1-3 defeat in the recent Border-Gavaskar Trophy in Australia, BCCI made it compulsory for players to take part in domestic cricket while not on national duty.

Kohli has been asked to return to the Ranji Trophy for a long time by experts because of his prolonged poor form in Tests. Kohli's numbers have been falling in Tests over the past five years, as he has scored 2028 runs from 39 games at an average of 30.72 with three centuries and nine half-centuries.

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