Batting great Virat Kohli was mobbed by a large crowd of fans on his arrival at Vadodara airport ahead of the first One-Day International against New Zealand, on Sunday.
He was greeted with chants of 'Kohli, Kohli' with fans jostling for selfies and handshakes, as Kohli struggled to make his way through the crowd to his car on Wednesday.
The 37-year-old star batter recently played two matches in the Vijay Hazare Trophy, scoring 131 against Andhra Pradesh and 77 against Gujarat.
He has been in good form in ODIs, averaging 146 in six matches with three centuries and fifties, since two successive ducks in Australia started his ODI return on a sour note last year.
He was the leading ODI run-getter for India in 2025, with 651 runs in 13 matches and innings at an average of 65.10, with three centuries and four fifties.
During the ICC Champions Trophy last year, Kohli became the first-ever cricketer to score 1,000 runs across all ICC event knockouts, with 1,024 runs in 22 matches and 24 innings at an average of 51.20, with a century and nine fifties.
He also is the only player to have 10 fifty-plus scores in ICC knockout matches, as he scored 218 runs in five matches at an average of 54.50, with an unbeaten century against Pakistan and 84 against Australia in the semis, winning 'Player of the Match' in both games.
Kohli is also the only cricketer to have a 50-plus average in three Champions Trophy tournaments, with 58.66 in the 2013 edition, 129.00 in the 2017 edition and 54.40 in this year's edition.
The Indian batting talisman also became the third batter to complete 14,000 ODI runs and eventually became the format's second-highest run-getter of all time, with 14,557 runs in 308 matches and 296 innings at an average of 58.46, with 53 centuries and 76 fifties, and a best score of 183.
Even though he features in only one format in international cricket, he has managed to surpass Australian legend Ricky Ponting (27,483 runs in 560 matches) to become the third-highest run-getter in international cricket.
In 556 international cricket matches, he has amassed 27,975 runs in 623 innings at an average of 52.58, with 84 centuries and 145 fifties to his name and a best score of 254 not out.
After hitting a century against South Africa (120-ball 135 at Ranchi) in December -- his 52nd in ODIs -- Kohli registered the record for the most centuries by a batter in a single format in international cricket, going past Sachin Tendulkar's record of 51 Test centuries.
