Why did Virat Kohli miss BCCI Naman Awards 2025?

The supreme cricket governing body of Indian cricket, the BCCI (Board of Control for Cricket in India), on Saturday (February 1), organized the coveted Naman Awards 2025. Notably, the prestigious award is held annually to recognize the players for performing exceedingly well, both at the international level and domestically as well.

Cricketers attend the Gala event, but Virat Kohli is absent

Hence several star Indian legends and stars of Indian cricket are invited for the gala event. However, this year, the star India batter and former Captain, Virat Kohli, was missing from the event. This led to the fans pondering cluelessly as to why one of the modern greats was not in attendance for the event.

Why did Virat Kohli miss the BCCI Naman Awards 2025?

For those unaware, Virat Kohli was representing his state team, Delhi, in the Ranji Trophy match against Railways at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi. Since he was still playing, Kohli opted out of attending the awards ceremony in Mumbai due to short travel notice.

Also Check: BCCI Award 2025 Winners List

Kohli dismissed early as Delhi secures a huge win over Railways

Meanwhile, speaking of the Ranji Trophy 2024-25 encounter, Kohli got out (6 runs off 15 balls) cheaply as his off stump went for a cartwheel. The youngster Himanshu Sangwan cherished the moment of dismissing one of the best batters of India. Thereafter, Ayush Badoni played a Captain's knock but missed out on a well-deserved century by the barest margin of one run. However, this did not stop Delhi from posting a huge total of 374 runs on the board in reply to Railways' first-innings score of 241.

As a result of a whopping lead gained, Delhi did not opt to bat again in the second innings and instead bowled out their opponents cheaply for just 114 runs to win the game by an emphatic margin of an innings and 19 runs. Notably, this match was a comeback match for Virat Kohli, who graced Indian domestic cricket after a long span of 13 years.