Former India captains Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli have been named in Mumbai and Delhi’s Vijay Hazare Trophy squads for the first two games. Both veteran batsmen had been told to play domestic cricket by the Board of control for Cricket in India (BCCI) to remain in contention for ODI selection. However, opener Yashasvi Jaiswal has informed Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA) that he is yet to fully recover from acute gastroenteritis and will not be available for the early phase of the tournament.
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MCA secretary Dr Unmesh Khanvilkar told The Indian Express that Sharma had confirmed his availability to play the first two matches. “He informed us that he will be available to play the first two Vijay Hazare Trophy matches and he will be joining the Mumbai team on December 23 in Jaipur. As far as Jaiswal is concerned, he needs some more rest and he has told us that whenever he is fit, he will inform MCA,” Khanvilkar said.
Mumbai will be playing their first two games against Sikkim on December 24 and Uttarakhand on December 26 in Jaipur, while Delhi will play Andhra and Gujarat in Bengaluru on the same dates.
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Apart from Kohli, the Delhi team for the first two games includes wicketkeeper Rishabh Pant and fast bowlers Ishant Sharma, Navdeep Saini and Harshit Rana. Pant has been named captain of the squad with Ayush Badoni as deputy. Rana, who played the five-match T20 series against South Africa, hasn’t confirmed to the selectors when he will join the squad.
“Virat, Rishabh, Ishant and Navdeep have confirmed their availability for the first two matches of the Vijay Hazare Trophy and have been included in the squad. However, what happens with senior players is that we don’t know which match they will play. That is why we need back-ups too in the squad. Hence we have picked 21 players,” Delhi and District Cricket Association president Rohan Jaitley said. “Harshit has said as he is playing in the T20 series and he will be available for selection when possible,” Jaitley added.
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Rohit and Kohli retired from T20Is after the 2024 World Cup triumph, and called time on their Test careers after the 2024-25 tour of Australia. Rohit and Kohli played one Ranji Trophy game each last season. In January, Kohli turned up for Delhi after 12 years while Rohit turned up for a Mumbai game after 10 years. The 50-over format is the only one where the two superstars are active, with the ODI World Cup coming up in 2027.
Mumbai will be led by Shardul Thakur and the team also features Sarfaraz Khan.
Mumbai Squad: Shardul Thakur (C), Rohit Sharma, Ishan Mulchandani, Musheer Khan, Angkrish Raghuvanshi, Sarfaraz Khan, Siddhesh Lad, Chimay Sutar, Akash Anand, Hardik Tamore, Shams Mulani, Tanush Kotian, Tushar Deshpande, Onkar Tarmale, Sylvester Dsouza, Sairaj Patil, Suryansh Shedge.
Delhi Squad: Rishabh Pant (C) Ayush Badoni V.C., Virat Kohli, Ishant Sharma, Navdeep Saini, Harshit Rana, Arpit Rana, Yash Dhull, Sarthak Ranjan, Priyansh Arya, Tejasvi Singh (WK), Nitish Rana, Hritik Shokeen, Harsh Tyagi, Simarjeet Singh, Prince Yadav, Divij Mehra, Ayush Doseja, Vaibhav Kandpal, Rohan Rana, Anuj Rawat.