Empty Stands At IND vs WI 2nd Test In Delhi Highlight 'Virat Kohli' Factor

Low turnout at the Arun Jaitley Stadium for the second IND vs WI Test match sparks chatter online, many hold the absence of Virat Kohli as the reason.

Fans mark Virat Kohli's absence as reason behind empty stands

Source : PTI

The second India vs West Indies Test match is currently underway at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in New Delhi, with the hosts batting first.

This is the first Test match at this venue in two-and-a-half years, but most of the stands were seen with extremely low attendance as the game commenced at 9:30 AM. 

Naturally, several fans pointed out to the absence of Virat Kohli, who retired from the format earlier this year. This is India's first Test series at home since Kohli's retirement. 

Internet Reacts To Low Attendance In IND vs WI Test

Several fans compared the scenes to when the Arun Jaitley Stadium saw packed stands during Virat Kohli's return to the Ranji Trophy, a domestic tournament. 

Virat Kohli not playing the Delhi Test? The stands are emptier than my phone's battery at 1%! Where's the roar? Why do they want him to play vijay hazare so that they can get revenue from domestic matches?

#ViratKohli #INDvsWI #DelhiTest #CricketFever #KingKohli #ViratKohli pic.twitter.com/lDKsIPSkIe

— Satyam (@Satyam22tweets) October 10, 2025

This was the same stadium where huge crowd was gathered for a Ranji match people were standing in queue just to get a glimpse of Kohli and now look there's no crowd at all for a Test match 😭 suck it up @BCCI pic.twitter.com/wWgOfDfPUv

— Preeti 🏏 (@Dracarys__18) October 10, 2025

Players like Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma was the reason for crowd
Indian team always had big stars, Sachin, Dhoni, Ganguly who were crowd pullers
Bcci trying to make Gill superstar but he can never be

— Coutininho (@Coutininho14) October 10, 2025

Crowd at Arun Jaitley Stadium between India vs West Indies Test match.

Crowd at Arun Jaitley Stadium in Ranji match.

- The Aura of Virat Kohli & Rohit Sharma in Test Cricket.🐐 pic.twitter.com/Nh4Akllzz4

— MANU. (@IMManu_18) October 10, 2025

Virat Kohli the biggest crowd puller of cricket. pic.twitter.com/r5FQ1UaNnh

— Suman18 (@king__sumanx) October 10, 2025

Crowd for the Ranji Match when Virat Kohli played in Delhi last time (more crowd than today's Ind vs WI match)

This is what you call "AURA" 🐐🔥pic.twitter.com/JZRfFvAbNz

— 𝐇𝐲𝐝𝐫𝐨𝐠𝐞𝐧 (@lmHydro45) October 10, 2025

However, it must be noted that the crowd appears to be building gradually as the day progresses. West Indies isn't a very strong opponent in Tests at this moment, which could be another reason for the relativlely low turnout.

Good crowd building on Day 1, hopefully more in 3rd session and Saturday + Sunday. 👏 pic.twitter.com/63ai1E7wpX

— Johns. (@CricCrazyJohns) October 10, 2025

Additionally, the tickets to Virat Kohli's Ranji Trophy game from earlier this year were free of cost, which was likely a big factor in the sizeable attendance for a domestic match.