Shamik Chakrabarty in Raipur
Virat Kohli is set to play for Delhi in the upcoming Vijay Hazare Trophy, RevSportz understands. According to Delhi and District Cricket Association (DDCA) sources, the former India captain has confirmed his availability and is likely to play three matches of the national one-day championship.
The Vijay Hazare Trophy starts on December 24, with Delhi playing against Andhra on the opening day. Their next matches are against Gujarat, Saurashtra, Odisha, Services, Railways and Haryana. While Delhi are playing the first half of the tournament in Alur near Bengaluru, they might play their last three matches at the BCCI’s Centre of Excellence (CoE) in the city. The match dates are January 3, 6 and 8. It’s very likely Kohli would feature in those games.
On Tuesday, a video capturing Kohli and national selector Pragyan Ojha in an intense discussion at an airport went viral on social media. Whether Kohli’s decision to play domestic 50-over cricket is an outcome of that is not known. Chief selector Ajit Agarkar has said that it’s mandatory for every contracted player, including Kohli and Rohit Sharma, to play domestic cricket. Head coach Gautam Gambhir has dittoed it.
Kohli and Rohit now play in only one format, and the selectors and the team management think that they need to play domestic cricket to retain match sharpness, as the next 50-over World Cup is still two years away. Rohit is said to be okay with turning up for Mumbai in the Vijay Hazare Trophy. Kohli, however, was seemingly reluctant. After scoring his 52nd ODI hundred in Ranchi, the 37-year-old spoke about how his cricket at this stage is completely “mental” and that he arrives at every game at “120 per cent”.
Looks like Kohli has acquiesced.
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